LETTER FROM MALMÖ
Since May 23, strange drawings, reminiscent of propaganda images from the 1940s, have adorned bus stops in Sweden. The same were published in newspapers or on social networks. We see the lid of a box, held by a stick, about to close on its prey. Below, a « like », as found on Instagram. Another shows the head of a cat on the screen of a mobile phone, the shadow of which forms a monstrous silhouette. The message : «Do not be fooled» – ” Do not get caught “.
On the Internet, the three words form the address of a site, which offers – in Swedish, English and Arabic – easy tips for identifying misinformation. How to recognize a « fake », for example. It is recommended to always check who the authors of a text or message are and ask why it was sent. A small glossary details the difference between misinformation, misinformation and misinformation. Terms such as “Potemkin village” (façade) or « sock puppet » (fake social media accounts) are explained there.
Behind this campaign is the Agency for Psychological Defense: an institution which has just risen from its ashes in Sweden, having been buried in the 2000s. At the time, the Scandinavian country had been convinced that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the implosion of the USSR had definitively removed the war from the European continent. The army had been disbanded, military service abolished and total defense – developed to deal with total war – abandoned.
“Do not succumb to enemy propaganda”
The annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 set the record straight. Europe then rediscovered the effectiveness of destabilization: “In Donbass, Russia waged a hidden war, where disinformation and propaganda were used to deny the war, before admitting that it was happening”, says Magnus Hjort, head of capacity development at the newly formed agency. In Sweden, total defense is back in fashion and, with it, psychological defense.
Originally it was designed “to enable the population to mentally cope with the war, possibly resist the occupation and not succumb to enemy propaganda”sums up Magnus Hjort. But the world has moved on and in recent years it has become clear that even in times of peace information warfare is rampant and “dictatorships and authoritarian regimes used disinformation as an instrument to achieve political, strategic and military objectives”says Mr. Hjort.
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