Operation Swedistan

Operation Swedistan or #ForBetterSweden was an attempted right-wing troll campaign spawned in November 2017 by 4chan's /pol/ board. The campaign allegedly wanted to replace the current flag of SwedenFile:Wikipedia's W.svg (a yellow Nordic crossFile:Wikipedia's W.svg on blue background) with a new, migrant-friendly flag (yellow star and crescentFile:Wikipedia's W.svg on blue background). The campaign produced a fake Avaaz.org petition (3.4k signatures),[2] fake Change.org petition (15 signatures),[3] fake newspaper articles, and a lot of fake adverts (see below).

The original proposed flag for Swedistan[1]
Frogs, clowns and swastikas
Alt-right
Chuds
Rebuilding the Reich, one meme at a time
Buzzwords and dogwhistles
v - t - e
“”Operation Swedistan:
1.Create significant traction in a movement to replace Sweden's Christian flag with an Islamic crescent.
2. Even those on the left will come to realise how Cucked their nation is if something like this even comes close to being considered by the Government.
—a very realistic 4chan user[1]

It didn't work.

Failure

The campaign was favorably reported on by conspiracy-riddled InfoWars,[4] creationist-supporting WND,[5] and a few right-wing YouTubers.[6][7][8][9] However, 4chan's 100+ threads on the subject[10] were unable to make the campaign catch on. Searches for "Operation Swedistan" and "ForBetterSweden" were insignificant for all months but December 2017,[11][12] and searches for "Sweden new flag" have actually decreased over the last five years.[13] Mainstream outlets all noted that the campaign was a hoax, including the BBC,[14] Metro,File:Wikipedia's W.svg[15] and even Turkish state media TRTFile:Wikipedia's W.svg.[16] Avaaz polled its members and took down the petition.[14]

  • Fake Huffington Post article: "Sweden Replacing Its Islamophobic Flag"[17]
  • Fake Slate article: "Swedish Progressives Push for Flag to Represent Diversity"[17]
  • Fake advert: "Sweden has improved. Time to improve our flag. #ForBetterSweden"[18]
  • Fake advert: "White Christian Men are the biggest obstacle against a progressive global march for peace and acceptance."[18]
  • Fake advert: "My family is here. My future is here. So why don't I feel at home? A flag for a multicultural Sweden. § DetNyaLandetFile:Wikipedia's W.svg"[17]
  • Fake advert: "End the hate. Change the state. [....] Let us make a stand. Change the flag. Change our hearts."[17]
gollark: A "license to broadcast"?
gollark: ... Anyway, really, who cares? Fix your program or turn off your sound.
gollark: Remember RCEoR insecure mode?
gollark: Maaaaybe because it's stupidly insecure?
gollark: ...

See also

References
  1. Operation Swedistan[a w], 4chan
  2. Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Löfven: Please consider changing offensive national flag[a w], Avaaz
  3. "Change the Swedish flag to accommodate the needs of incoming refugees"[a w], Change.org
  4. "SWEDEN UNDER PRESSURE TO ADOPT ISLAMIC NATIONAL FLAG"[a w], Infowars
  5. "'OPERATION SWEDISTAN' LAUNCHED IN LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT TO SAVE SWEDEN"[a w], WND
  6. "The Art of Trolling"[a w], The Angry Foreigner on YouTube
  7. "Operation Swedistan - Plan to Change the Swedish Flag to Be More Inclusive"[a w], Wild Smile on YouTube
  8. "Fucking hell..... my roommate got me all worked up about my latest post. I just found some shit on /pol/ I didn’t wanna believe it but the #ForBetterSweden was full of people supporting it lol. Sorry about that guys!"[a w], SomeBlackGuy on Twitter
  9. "Muslims Want New Swedish Flag | White Resistance News"[a w], Alt-Right TV on YouTube
  10. "("operation swedistan" OR "forbettersweden") site:4plebs.org", Google Search
  11. "Operation Swedistan", Google Trends
  12. "ForBetterSweden", Google Trends
  13. "Sweden new flag", Google Trends
  14. A failed 'Swedish flag' hoax shows the decline of the extremist 4chan message board[a w], BBC
  15. "4chan-användare bakom falsk namninsamling för att ändra Sveriges flagga"[a w], Metro
  16. Campaign to change the Swedish flag turns out to be a hoax[a w], TRT
  17. /OS/ Operation Swedistan #7 - Social Jihad[a w], 4chan
  18. "/OS/ - Operation Swedistan"[a w], 4chan
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