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Why are Swedish media suddenly naming Forssell as minister in white supremacism scandal?

The Local and several other Swedish news sites have made the decision to name Migration Minister Johan Forssell as the government minister whose close relative has been linked to white supremacist groups. The Local Sweden's editor explains the decision. Advertisement Ulf Kristersson's government managed to scrape by for a week without saying anything of real substance on the anonymous minister's links to white supremacism via a family member, a story broken by Expo, before most of Swedish mainstream media let the cat out of the bag. The cat, in this case, being Migration Minister Johan Forssell. It started with Nyhetsbyrån Järva naming him last week, with local newspapers Västerbottens-kuriren and Gefle Dagblad following suit over the weekend. But of course by then, it was already all over the internet via social media and forums. Expressen then became the first national newspaper to name him on Wednesday. After first anonymising Forssell, The Local also made the decision to name him on July 9th. Why did it take so long? First, it involves an underage person, who according to an anonymous statement from the minister has after a 'long and frank conversation' now left that world behind. Secondly, Swedish media ethics are extremely clear on the idea that journalists should show strong restraint when it comes to identifying a person when publishing damaging (potentially for life) information about them, especially if they are not a public figure. So in this case, it was never a question about protecting Forssell – he's very much a public figure, so there is an obvious public interest – it's about protecting the relative and giving an underage non-public figure a second chance to get their life together. On the other hand, if a minister in any government has close links to someone said to be involved in organisations that promote violent neo-Nazi ideals, it's a security risk. It is also the government that's pushed through some of the harshest immigration reforms in years, including threatening to revoke residency permits on loose grounds of "poor conduct", and which has made it clear that it does matter who your relatives are. Forssell has been one of the most outspoken ministers about, for example, parents in largely immigrant suburbs being responsible for keeping their children away from gangs. The reasons for not naming Forssell still weighed heavily, however, and it should have been perfectly possible to hold both him and the government to account nonetheless. The problem was that the government tried its best to make it impossible. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer – the only minister to comment on the quickly-growing scandal – refused when approached by public broadcaster SVT last week to even speak about whether or not the relative's actions could constitute a security risk. Advertisement According to Expo, the relative had 'sought out and joined' some of Sweden's most racist groups, including Det fria Sverige and Aktivklubb Sverige, and collaborated with an activist from the Nordic Resistance Movement, which was classified as a terror group by the US last summer. Swedish police believe Aktivklubb Sverige is actively trying to map Swedish officials as potential targets for blackmail and engages in combat training with the long-term goal of creating a right-wing extremist militia. It's not hard to argue that even without naming his colleague, a justice minister should be able to have opinions on the security risk posed by far-right, violent extremism. The only other comment from a senior member of the government was a statement from Forssell himself, sent to the TT news agency via the prime minister's press secretary without the government actually disclosing the identity of the minister. In that statement, he said that he had only recently found out that his relative had been 'hanging out in completely the wrong circles' and that he had been working closely with the security police since then. 'I detest all kinds of political extremism and strongly distance myself from it,' read the comment. 'I have had long and frank conversations with the minor who is both remorseful and sad. All association with these circles is a closed chapter.' In fact, the only government confirmation of his identity came inadvertently when the Moderate Party's deputy party secretary phoned up the editor-in-chief of Västerbottens-kuriren to berate him for publishing the minister's name. Advertisement In Sweden, the decision of whether or not to name a person ultimately rests with the publisher (ansvarig utgivare) and exercising caution at first wasn't cowardly – it was the right decision if journalists were to uphold the values of our media ethics. The fact that Forssell's name was already all over the internet wasn't a huge factor – each newsroom traditionally makes its own editorial decisions, another key principle. But with the government refusing to answer questions, and its representatives openly trying to influence editorial decisions, it got to a point where naming Forssell was the only possible option to protect the public's democratic right to know what's going on. We also can't refrain from reporting the proceedings of parliament. Expressen, Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet all said that the decisive point came when the Left Party called Forssell to testify in front of parliament's social insurance committee about his relative's links to white supremacism. Not reporting on a minister's work and that of the highest democratically elected body in Sweden would be unthinkable. Advertisement This was the decisive point for The Local, too. Additionally, for us, naming Forssell is at this stage the only way we can serve our core audience – foreign residents in Sweden, who are the people most affected by the government's migration reforms – and keep you informed. This is not about the relative. This is about the government, the prime minister and Forssell putting their money where their mouth is – or are we only responsible for our family if we're from abroad and is 'poor conduct' something only immigrants should have to worry about? It's time for the government to come out of hiding, stop downplaying the threat from far-right extremism, and start answering questions.