In Sweden, public officials who voice climate concerns are facing a government-led 'crackdown on activism'
Two years after becoming a symbol of a witch hunt within Sweden's public sector, Marie (who requested her last name be withheld) is still reeling from the trauma she experienced. On April 2, 2023, just six months after being hired by the Swedish Energy Agency as coordinator for the "gas sector," she learned she would not be made a permanent staff member. The previous day, her predecessor had sent screenshots of her Facebook account to their superiors, revealing her involvement with the Rebellmammorna ("Mothers* Rebellion"), a pacifist movement that organizes sit-ins to protest climate inaction.
Given the sensitive nature of her position, Marie had undergone an administrative vetting process before being hired. During checks by Swedish intelligence services, she had mentioned her climate activism; this revelation had not prompted any reaction. Yet by the spring of 2023, she found herself being treated like a potential terrorist. On April 3, the right-wing weekly Fokus published an article labeling Marie a "climate activist" and describing her as "a huge risk to national security."
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Euronews
4 hours ago
- Euronews
Adult content creators warn new Swedish law ‘takes away safest option'
A new law in Sweden that makes it illegal to buy custom adult content will take effect on July 1. But the content creators say it makes their profession more dangerous. The new updated legislation makes it so anyone who purchases online sexual content (sexual acts performed remotely with no ty physical contact) or operates a website that makes it easier to get in touch with adult content creators could be imprisoned for up to one year. Sweden's updated laws are the latest in a series of restrictions to digital porn, like France's age verification law that saw Pornhub temporarily stop operations there, the US' Take it Down Act or the EU's directive to ban sexual deepfakes by 2027. 'The idea is that anyone who buys sexual acts performed remotely should be penalised in the same way as those who buy sexual acts involving physical contact,' Gunnar Strommer, Sweden's Justice Minister, told the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. Swedish adult content creators told Euronews Next that the government should reconsider the new law because it could push some of them to more unsafe types of content creation. 'This is just the beginning' Amanda Breden is a Swedish online adult content creator who's been using online platforms such as OnlyFans for her business, amassing roughly 33,000 followers over the last four years there. Her business model includes a subscription-based channel where, for $10 (over r€8) a month, users can get access to a large collection of adult images and photos that she's created. Her second free channel generates income through custom content requests that she gets through direct messages (DMs) from fans. The channel is also something that her husband Max works on, doing the accounting, the payroll and the camerawork. 'The [Swedish] law doesn't just affect me as a creator - it takes away the freedom to do what we want with our own lives,' she told Euronews Next. 'People may not realise that this is just the beginning,.' she added. Euronews Next reached out to OnlyFans and Pornhub, two major online platforms for adult content. Both said they would comply with the laws in Sweden but did not elaborate on how they would. OnlyFans has less than 45 million monthly users in the EU, according to the latest transparency report. Pornhub sees about 26.1 million monthly users in the EU, it's website says. 'OnlyFans can save many women from the streets' The law wouldn't affect Breden too much, she continued, because she has other streams of income, including a hotel and cafe in Sweden. What is a concern for her is if OnlyFans starts 'blocking' Swedish creators 'because they're afraid of being sued or accused of pimping.'. 'I would actually argue that OnlyFans can save many women from the streets and from pimps who try to control them,' Breden said, noting that it lets creators choose the type of content they sell and that they are able to work from home. Emma Larsson, an adult content creator, told the European Sex Workers Rights Alliance (ESWRA) that it would push content creators like herself into more unsafe workplaces. 'Our income will decrease so much that we'll be forced to offer services and fulfil requests we would otherwise never agree to,' she said in a pressrelease. 'This law will push us into dangerous situations and take away our safest option.'. 'A dangerous European precedent' The idea behind Sweden's updated law, according to the government, is to 'strengthen protection against sexual harassment,' fraud against the elderly and crimes with gender as a hate crime motive. Advocates and adult content creators say there's a general misunderstanding of the rules that platforms already have in place to curb dangerous sexual content. OnlyFans says in it's content moderation policy that it uses a combination of human and automated filters to determine which content creators cannot be verified as over 18+, that are generated by artificial intelligence (AI), violent or extreme content, and that consent has been given, among other criteria. 'I've had several videos removed, even though they were just harmless roleplay,' Breden said. 'You're absolutely not allowed to even hint at anything that could be seen as 'forced' or similar.'. Advocacy groups are also concerned about how the laws would be enforced. The European Sex Workers Rights Alliance said there are risks that the police could be empowered to search phones, computers, and online accounts that are linked to the creation of online adult content. That then raises 'serious issues around digital surveillance and privacy, especially for vulnerable groups like sex workers already facing discrimination and criminalisation.'. 'This law would set a dangerous precedent across Europe,' the press release reads. If the government is concerned about safety, Breeden said the company could instead increase the age limit to 25 from 18 to access adult content sites like OnlyFans.
AFP
2 days ago
- AFP
Unrelated image of injured man falsely linked to death of Kenyan killed in police custody
'A photo of Albert Ojwang when he was alive. Has resurfaced at the Central Police Station reception. His shirt was torn, and he was bleeding from the head (sic),' reads an X post published on June 9, 2025, and shared more than 600 times. Show Hide Content warning Show Image Screenshot of the false post, taken on June 18, 2025 Hide The image shows a man with a bloodied face and a torn shirt standing with his head tilted upwards. Similar claims were published elsewhere on X here and here. Fatal arrest Ojwang, a 31-year-old teacher, was reportedly arrested on June 6, 2025, in Western Kenya, and transported to the central police station in Kenya's capital Nairobi. He was accused of criticising deputy inspector general Eliud Lagat on social media (archived here). He was reported dead two days later, with police initially claiming he died after hitting his head against a cell wall. However, a pathologist's report indicated injuries consistent with assault (archived here). Ojwang's death sparked public outrage, which resulted in protests demanding justice and Lagat's resignation (archived here and here). Lagat has since announced he would 'step aside' from his position amid ongoing investigations. Additionally, two police officers and a technician accused of tampering with CCTV footage at the station have been arrested in connection with Ojwang's death (archived here and here). However, the posts purportedly showing an image of Ojwang at the station before he died are false. Unrelated image AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches and found the original image published on Facebook by ex-Kakamega county senator Cleophas Malala on June 9, 2025, alongside claims that his driver was assaulted by police (archived here). 'The Kakamega OCPD - a one MR. ROTICH and three other uniformed officers trailed my vehicle and forced my driver to stop,' he wrote. '*Disappointingly, upon confirming I was not on board, they commanded him to drive to an unknown destination. When he refused, they assaulted him so severely using a gun pointer that he was left profusely bleeding (sic).' 'This is unconscionable brutality by those sworn to protect us,' he continued. 'Our nation sinks deeper into lawlessness when officers become perpetrators. We will not be intimidated—we are formally filing a complaint with IPOA (Independent Policing Oversight Authority).' The incident was also reported by local media (archived here and here).
AFP
2 days ago
- AFP
Video shows a Russian pilgrimage, not Israelis evacuating over Iran strikes
Israel's attack on Iran on June 13, 2025, triggered retaliatory measures by Iran and turned the decades-long enmity between the two into a rapidly-spiralling military conflict. A video compilation circulating on Facebook in Ethiopia claims to show Israelis fleeing cities en masse following a warning from Iran. However, this is false: the video shows footage from the Velikoretsky religious pilgrimage in Russia, which took place earlier this month, as well as people setting off en masse to collect a medicinal fungus on a mountainside in Nepal. The text accompanying the video post in Amharic reads: 'Israelis leave cities due to Iran's warning to evacuate their cities.' Image Screenshot of the false post, taken on June 19, 2025 'Happy trip,' reads the English text overlay, accompanied by an emoji of the Israeli flag. The 29-second video is composed of three clips divided into two sections. In the top half of the screen, hundreds of people are seen walking in a hilly, dry landscape. In the bottom half of the screen, a crowd of people are shown walking down a street, all headed in the same direction and most of them wearing large backpacks. Then, a crowd is seen from above crossing a bridge. The video was published on June 17, 2025, and has been shared more than 190 times since. A similar post was also posted here on Facebook and shared more than 5,000 times. Israel-Iran conflict After decades of bad blood and a long shadow war, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign on 13 June 2025, to which Iran responded with a barrage of missiles and drones. AFP reported that as of June 19, 2025, more than 200 Iranians and Israelis were killed in the missile attacks on both sides, with hundreds more wounded (archived here). A hospital in southern Israel was hit when Iran fired a barrage of missiles, while the Israeli army said it had hit an "inactive nuclear reactor" in Arak, Iran. International media also reported that on June 15, 2025, Iranian forces warned Israelis to leave their country in the face of increasing rocket attacks (archived here). However, the video does not show Israelis fleeing their cities. Velikoretsky pilgrimage AFP Fact Check used the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the video. For the footage of the crowd walking in the street and across a bridge, the search results include an X post from June 6, 2025 (archived here). Важное событие, о котором МОЛЧАТ практически все СМИ 22 тысячи православных русских людей идут Великорецким крестным ходом. Идут во славу Христа, Богородицы и Николая Угодника 22 тыс человек оставили дела и работу, чтобы несколько дней молиться Господу о прощении грехов — olga_1205 (@k_ollga) June 6, 2025 Text in Russian accompanying the video indicates that it shows thousands of Russians who took part in the Velikoretsky religious pilgrimage earlier this month. The Velikoretsky is a Russian Orthodox procession that takes place in early June every year, covering 110 miles (177 kilometres) and passing through 12 locations in the Kirov region (archived here). The official website for the city of Kirov featured a story about the pilgrimage held earlier this month on June 3, 2025, which includes a picture corresponding to the footage (archived here). Image Screenshots of the image from Kirov's website (left) and the false post, taken on June 18, 2025 Meanwhile, search results for the clip of people walking in the hills established that it was originally posted on Telegram on June 2, 2025, more than a week before the start of the Israeli-Iranian conflict. The clip shows a crowd of people in search of a medical fungus known as Yarsagumba around Mount Dolpa in western Nepal. Every year, people head to the highlands of Dolpa to harvest Yarsagumba, a rare and highly valued medicinal fungus (archived here). Neither of the three clips is related to Israel or the ongoing conflict with Iran.
