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Julia Frändfors on Right-Wing Activist's Debut in SVT Program: 'Insane'
🇸🇪 Sweden /Culture & Society

Julia Frändfors on Right-Wing Activist's Debut in SVT Program: 'Insane'

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Right-wing activist Nick Alinia's participation in SVT's humor program "Invandrare för svenskar" has caused controversy.
  • Program participant Julia Frändfors has withdrawn, calling Alinia's involvement "insane" and stating it legitimizes his views.
  • SVT defended the decision, citing a desire for guest diversity and adherence to ethical guidelines, while the producer noted Alinia is not convicted of a crime.

Right-wing activist Nick Alinia's inclusion in the upcoming season of SVT's humor program "Invandrare för svenskar" (Immigrants for Swedes) has sparked significant backlash. Alinia, known for confronting politicians and journalists online and collaborating with far-right figures, is set to be a panel member. His participation has led to one of the show's participants, podcaster Julia Frändfors, withdrawing from the program.

I think it's insane.

— Julia FrändforsFrändfors expressed her strong disapproval of Nick Alinia's participation in the SVT program.

Frändfors expressed strong disapproval, calling Alinia's presence "insane" and stating her decision to leave was a matter of responsibility. She believes the program legitimizes his views and does not want to be in a context that allows him to "play games" on television. "I want to set boundaries, not just for myself, but for the contexts I find myself in," Frändfors stated, adding that she hopes SVT feels ashamed for putting others in the same studio as him.

I want to set boundaries, not just for myself, but for the contexts I find myself in. And I don't want to be in a context that legitimizes his opinions and then sit and joke with him on play-TV.

— Julia FrändforsFrändfors explained her decision to withdraw from the program due to Alinia's involvement.

SVT, however, defended its decision. Press spokesperson Camilla Hagert told Dagens Nyheter that "IFS is a sharp and challenging humor program that moves within the 'us and them' friction." She emphasized the editorial team's aim for a wide variety of guests, acknowledging that some elicit stronger reactions. Hagert assured that the production is ongoing and will adhere to SVT's journalistic and ethical guidelines, with the new season set to air in the fall.

IFS is a sharp and challenging humor program that moves within the 'us and them' friction. The editorial team wants a wide variety of guests in the programs. Some of the guests elicit stronger reactions than others.

— Camilla HagertSVT's press spokesperson defended the inclusion of diverse guests in the program.

Michael Lindgren, the program's producer, also stood by the decision. Speaking to Dagen ETC, he stated that as long as Alinia is not convicted of a crime, it is a reasonable public service stance to uphold freedom of opinion. Alinia himself reportedly told TV4 Nyheterna that he found the idea of participating in a humor program fun and was unconcerned by the controversy.

In principle, if you are not convicted of a crime, you are not. Then it is a completely reasonable public service stance to want to uphold freedom of opinion.

— Michael LindgrenThe program's producer justified Alinia's participation by stating he has not been convicted of a crime.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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