Minor riot tears down political party SD's posters in Stockholm Subway

The ad campaign in a single subway station in Stockholm that we wrote about here yesterday, continues to stir controversy. Yesterday evening at 6pm a demonstration was held on Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, we did go there to see it, there were thousands of people and a heavy police presence. Anti-racist speeches were held by various speakers, and chants of "no racists in our streets" were heard long after the demonstration was supposed to disseminate. Ironically, Romani beggars in the crowd were mainly ignored.

Part of the group of people demonstrating then entered the Östermalmstorg Subway station and tore down all the posters. The police could not stop the crowds, they arrested two people for vandalism of these posters Monday night and took "several people" into custody Tuesday night. This is what the scene looked like.

The debate regarding these posters continues in all of the Swedish media today. Mårten Schultz, Professor of Civil Law, makes it clear that the campaign is "not criminal", in an unusually frank statement for a lawyer, considering the campaign is now reported to the Chancellor of Justice, and thus under investigation. He elaborates, when he explains that this is not hate speech.

It is important to keep this in mind that this is about freedom of expression. In the freedom of speech area, a legislator treads carefully. There are obvious limitations: You must not threaten or defame individuals. You may not manipulate the markets or to lie in court. Sometimes there are more controversial restrictions. One should not, for example, speak to incite to racial hatred (Hate speech). Apart from these legal enactments, the main principle is simple. You are allowed to speak also in a way that annoys or bothers other people, as long as the statement is not harmful or there is a clear risk that will be harmful.

On Monday, several reporters and photographers documented the banners and found there was a spelling error on the word "Government", something that was reported as far and wide away as The Scotsman. Sweden Democrats Chief of PR, Joakim Wallerstein, admits that the spelling error existed on Monday. "It was not a plan to get more media attention" he says, but notes that the campaign has gotten a record level of earned media, some due to the spelling error. Joakim Wallerstein is very pleased with the media penetration of the campaign and explains that the banner with the spelling error was changed during the night between Monday and Tuesday.

Rumours, some true some not, spread like wildfire on social media last night. There were suggestions, for example, that SL (Stockholm Public Transport) would end their contract with Clear Channel over the media space, something which Clear Channels Press Secretary Sofie Brange denies.

We categorically deny That SL would end their dealings with us. We have a very good cooperation with SL. It is worth noting that SL and ourselves have made the same assessment in question, in other words, it is not we who alone make decisions about the advertising that goes up in the subway.

Meanwhile this morning on the Swedish morning news, SL's communications director Suss Forsman Tullberg discussed the campaign with the show hosts and PR-consultant Paul Ronge. Suss Forsman Tullberg considered the demonstration against the posters an "expression of the same rights to speech as the billboards we've chosen to allow on the Subway". She added that it was "sad" that around 200 people stormed the subway station and tore down posters, but according to reports she's received the crowd calmed down and dispersed in a calm manner.
To a direct question about "allowing" this type of speech in the public transportation system, Forsman Tullberg explained: "We have a decision made in 1988 that SL should allow political posters in the transportation system and we are government owned, and as a government run entity we have a responsibility to follow our fundamental law, which also includes the right to equal treatment. We can not choose to have one political party run ads, but not another one."
Paul Ronge admitted he's impressed by how Forsman Tullberg handled the media storm, and how her statements make SL like "the defenders of democracy", but he disagrees that this is a question of democracy. "It is you who decide who can run ads, if the ads are offensive, if many people like for example immigrants, and many people who against racism, will react against this. It's not as if SL's constitutional description says you should throw judgement out, you can make a good judgement call. I don't think that you did, in this case."

Ronge adds that he objects to the copy of the ads, where "We apologise" can be "interpreted as if SD are speaking for the entire Swedish population, they're speaking for me" instead of for themselves as the sender and signee of the copy. It is this authors opinion that Mr Ronge has misread the copy, as the sender is clearly Sweden Democrats, not "the Swedish People".

Forsman Tullberg shot back: "We are not a private company, that can pick and choose, and precisely because were are a government operated entity we need to look at this as a question of democracy. We have a responsibility to uphold the democratic system that we are a part of."

The ad campaign has been reported to the Advertising Ombudsman (RO) 37 times at last count, the Social Democrats in Stockholm County Council are demanding new guidelines for which messages SL will allow, and it's still unclear whether the vandalized ad campaign will be put back up. SD expects it to be, as they have paid for two weeks ad placement, not two days. Meanwhile, SD politician Ted Ekeroth has reported Hanna Gunnarsson, a politician from the communist party, for incitement, after she spread messages on social media encouraging people to tear down and vandalize these posters.

I'll have Morten Shultz tie this up, as hundreds of complaints about this campaign are still rolling into the Chancellor of Justice's office: "Instead complaints (to the Chancellor of Justice) are made, to make a political point. Which brings me to my point. And it is that it's a bad habit to use the law to make political points of legally irrelevant events."

As of the time of press, there are no new posters in Östermalms subway station to replace the ones town down during the riot last night. There are many social media videos out there taken both by professional press and participants, with plenty of these videos found on Twitter under the hashtag #SLspriderrasim.


Related articles:
* Sweden Democrats apologise to tourists for beggars
article #3: an interview with the man behind the campaign.

Adland® is supported by your donations alone. You can help us out by buying us a Ko-Fi coffee.
Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
comment_node_story
Files must be less than 1 MB.
Allowed file types: jpg jpeg gif png wav avi mpeg mpg mov rm flv wmv 3gp mp4 m4v.
Bjorn Palenius's picture

How nuts can the left get in Sweden?! I am Swedish but it pisses me of to see, that when the left pretends to speak for justices and fairness they simply do not give a shit for ANYONE who dare not agree with them! Ther'e n NO better than the Nazis!!

kidsleepy's picture

It's typical behavior of social justice warriors. If they don't like what you have to say, you have no right to say it. It's fascism, all right.

Ophidian's picture

Since when did it become it become "racist" to want to protect the ethnic identity of your country and secure it's borders? There are Swedes who want their ancestral homeland to remain Swedish, and these brainwashed "anti-racists" are killing any chance for Sweden to remain what it has been for centuries. They are more than happy to hand over a civilization that their ancestors have built centuries ago to foreigners who have no desire to assimilate. These people are not impressing anybody with their "anti-racism". If anything, the rest of the world sees Sweden as a spineless, PC laughing stock lacking in any cultural pride.

Nobody tells China or Saudi Arabia that they need to get the "racists" off their streets and be more accepting of multiculturalism. They're allowed to be ethnically and culturally homogeneous. BTW, I'm new here. But I figured I'd add to my two cents to this conversation. You people can call me a "racist" or a "Nazi" for espousing the desire for all people to protect their soil and heritage.

Dabitch's picture

This is all that remains of the poster campaign. They couldn't tear this down. SL has decided to not put the campaign back up as "people might get hurt if they attempt to tear it down again".

Robert Downey Senior's picture

I'm not from Sweden, so can someone explain to me how this is racist? The copy only speaks of criminal gangs forcing people to beg, and "Our government won't do what's needed.", pitting this party against the sitting government like all political ads usually do. The photo doesn't even show the person sleeping on the streets skin color. What am I missing here?

Dabitch's picture

The people begging are usually from eastern Europe, typically Romania. It's assumed that only Roma from Romania are in this situation. Thus a billboard saying "Sweden should do better than this", showing a typical street beggars night camp is interpreted as a slight against the Roma people.

Here's a couple of Romanian news reports about the phenomena (in Romanian only). Episode one: Lost paradise: offers reward, and episode two. "Romanian beggars, caused a shock to Sweden, who have never seen the homeless of the 50s and the poverty of the 1900s."

Silla's picture

And here we have the problem in Sweden. 'Dabitch', you are one of the problems.
The ad campaign did not specify any group of people or anything, you make your own decision that they are pointing at Romanian people.
Who are the racist here? You use the words 'usually' and 'assumed' those making your own conclusions about who are on the street. You don't know where the person in the picture comes from but you are assuming you know. You are placing your word and thoughts in other peoples minds.
The campaign was not racist according to Swedish laws, it is not riot against specific peoples ('hets mot folkgrupp') since beggers are not a minoritygroup and Romania is not mentioned anywhere... Sorry....
What i am having problems with is the whole show around this, the ad costed SD 300.000 SEK but they get publicity for miljions thanks the leftwing and antiracists, don't you get that?
Also the self-declared God, who, from stage, brainwashed the audience to go and tear the ads down. In front of all TV-networks and cameras, it did the antiracists no good, specially since a lot of the speakers couldn't stick to the subject but had to talk about political (read left-ideology) issues. No one gave a damn about the Romainian beggers that walked around in the crowd, this was just a show to get a political message through from the left.
The God and the people tearing the ad down should be jailed, they are doing a criminal act. But now you reply, it was for a good cause... we can't have that sitting there, we don't like it...
Who are you to judge what is ok or not? Is it ok to break the law just because you don't like the message? Is it ok to go into a store and destroy all 'unwanted' magazines just because you don't like the porn-industry? Is it ok to pour sugar into every car on your street just because you don't like pollution?
No, it is not!

If this would have given the correct effect... a small group of people should during night have gone to the subway and in silence torn down the ads, taking pictures of the empty roof. No media, no speakers, no nothing... then posted the action on the net, showing empty adplaces.

Dabitch's picture

> You are placing your word and thoughts in other peoples minds.

You're misreading my comment. I'm explaining what other people are presumably thinking, as reported in the media and on social media. Please don't confuse Roma with Romanians. Dial it down a notch. I've written three articles on this event*, I suggest you read them all a little more carefully.

p.s the entire campaign cost less than 100,000 SEK (media & print included) last I checked - and I actually checked by picking up the phone and calling to confirm this like a journalist should.

* article one with full text & images of ads, this one above and, article three, an interview with the man behind the campaign.

Sport's picture

We have reached peak outrage culture.