Sweden’s institutions and political groups are mobilising to fight cyber attacks that could disrupt the outcome of the country’s upcoming election.
There has been a proliferation of new “bots” on Twitter that are primarily stumping for the far-right Sweden Democrats and attacking the ruling Social Democrats, reported Bloomberg.
In response, the Swedish Security Service is now stepping up efforts to defend the electoral process.
“We’re handling a mass of activities and incidents and will, in our intelligence work with others, attempt to puzzle together who is behind each activity,” Linda Escar, a deputy unit head at the security police, told Swedish Radio on August 29.
The agency is monitoring an increasing number of international news stories about Sweden being a “country in chaos”.
One Twitter account calls for the “impeachment of the Swedish PM” Stefan Lofven, alleging the Social Democrat leader has committed “crimes against the nation of Sweden & its population.”
Sweden’s status as the country in Europe that has absorbed the most immigrants per capita is also a favourite theme on Twitter, with #swedenstan a popular hashtag. Others refer to Sweden as a “waste dump” for multiculturalism.
