Sweden's Instagram feminists under attack

The tables have turned on two Swedish feminists who made a name for themselves through social media: Cissi Wallin is in court, accused of libel for calling a well-known public figure a rapist despite the charges against him having been dropped. And Linnéa Claeson, who keeps a public record of verbal attacks by men, reportedly made them up in many cases. Sweden's press takes a dim view of these tactics.

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Göteborgs-Posten (SE) /

Girls being deterred from joining the cause

This is a disservice to the women's cause, Göteborgs-Posten observes:

“Linnéa Claeson posts threats from unworldly men on her Instagram account and gives fiery responses. The problem is that some of these messages were clearly never sent. ... Claeson has built an entire career on the fact that you can't present yourself as a feminist in public without sinking into a swamp of hatred, threats and pictures of penises. This can deter young girls from taking a stand. ... Something really sick is going on when feminist commitment is measured by the number of rape threats in the inbox. Most feminists can be present in the press and on television without living in fear.”

Svenska Dagbladet (SE) /

Content is the opposite of bitter reality

The Instagram feminists have turned themselves into slaves of the content factories, says Svenska Dagbladet:

“In a society where only the individual exists everyone becomes consumers, customers and followers. To swim on top, you need so-called content. This content doesn't have to actually contain anything - what counts is that it's seen and clicked on. Like everything in late capitalism, feminism has become a sales pitch. ... Meanwhile, women are abused, raped and murdered every day. In the West, ordinary men sit in front of computers and order sexual assaults on Filipino children; transactivists are killed, young girls are sent to prison for abortions. This is the opposite of content - this is reality. The feminist struggle is a long, long way away from the click world.”