Swedish Lawmaker Decries Jewish Family’s ‘Control’ of Media
– A Swedish watchdog on anti-Semitism accused a far-right lawmaker of spreading racist stereotypes of Jews in speaking against “control of media by any family or ethnic group.”
Anna Hagwall, a lawmaker for the Sweden Democrats party in the Riksdag, Sweden’s national legislative body, submitted a motion on Sept. 30 that proposes to condition state subsidies of media in Sweden on the plurality of entities that own the publications.
In a statement to the Aftonbladet daily, she named specifically the Bonnier Group — a privately held Swedish media group of dozens companies operating in 15 countries that was started and is still controlled by the Bonnier family, which has Jewish roots.
Opposing state funding for local publications owned by the group, Hagwall wrote in the email: “Let the small Bonnier newspapers in the provinces go under. No family, ethnic group or company should be allowed to control more than 5 percent of the media” market.
Her statement triggered rebuke within her own party and by the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism.
“The anti-Semitic myths fueled by a member of the Swedish Parliament are frightening,” the committee’s chairperson, Svante Weyler, wrote in a statement published Thursday.
By “implying that an ethnic group controls the media, Hagwall indulged in anti-Semitic propaganda on the notion that Jews control the media,” Weyler added. “This type of attack against Bonnier has a long tradition that continues to this day, not least in right-wing propaganda.”
Mattias Karlsson, a leader of the Sweden Democrats, said in a statement Thursday that Hagwall’s actions “have damaged our confidence in her” and “will have consequences for her future activities in the party and its parliamentary work.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
