Holocaust fact check causes outcry in Sweden
A fact check carried out by the public TV broadcaster in Sweden has triggered a public outcry. The editing team, which normally focuses on checking the veracity of politicians' claims, had offered a fact check on the question of whether the Holocaust really happened. Swedish commentators are appalled.
Absurd ideas shouldn't be debated seriously
Those who engage in a serious debate with Holocaust deniers make them socially acceptable, warns Malin Krutmeijer in Sydsvenskan:
“It's incomprehensible that the public broadcaster is opening the door for a discussion with the ideological quagmires of the periphery. ... What questions need to be answered next? Is homosexuality a disease? Should women really go to work? Is the global economic elite really made up of aliens (yes, there is such a theory)? I agree with the history professor and leading global expert in this field, Yehuda Bauer, who, when SVT asked him to state his position on the existence of the Holocaust, explained: 'You don't argue with people who claim the moon is made of white cheese.'”
Don't let the Nazis set the agenda
The public broadcaster has misunderstood its mission, Dagens Nyheter believes:
“There's no reason to doubt the good intentions behind this fact check on historical atrocities. However, what it shows is that SVT has completely understood the role it plays - or can play - in the emerging media landscape. Its function as an authority that seeks the truth no longer exists. And for that reason the 'fact check' on Nazi lies about the Holocaust is having the opposite effect. ... And because the fact check is essentially a reaction, the report clearly shows that the public service broadcaster has allowed the Nazis to set the agenda.”