Thousands of suspicious accounts followed Swedish political voices, researchers say
More than 8,500 X accounts were identified as suspicious in the run-up to Sweden's general election, in which the centre-left opposition secured a narrow preliminary lead.
Researchers have uncovered thousands of suspicious social media accounts that followed Swedish political figures ahead of the country's general election. Dutch analysis firm Trollrensics and non-profit Alliance4Europe collaborated to identify over 8,500 accounts, which displayed signs of coordinated behavior. These profiles often used stolen photos, rarely posted original content, and followed a large number of genuine Swedish political accounts.
The majority of these accounts were listed as based in Nigeria, Ghana, and parts of Asia, rather than Sweden. They emerged in the lead-up to the election, with preliminary results showing the opposition bloc narrowly ahead of the ruling right-wing alliance. Researchers believe that these accounts may have been part of a commercial operation, where people from Africa or the US were hired to generate and amplify fake content.
The findings emerged during an election season marked by concerns over foreign interference. Swedish authorities had warned about the potential for hostile actors to deepen divisions or undermine public confidence in the electoral process. Despite being deemed not a priority target for Russian influence, Swedish authorities still took extensive measures to protect the public from disinformation ahead of the vote.
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