This thesis investigates the political discourse surrounding the controversial act of Quran burnings in Sweden, focusing on the positions of leaders from the three largest political parties between April 2022 and October 2023. Utilizing a theoretical framework that differentiates between consequentialist and non-consequentialist perspectives, it examines the politicians’ arguments for justifying and limiting freedom of expression in this context. Initially, both the Social Democratic Party and the Moderate Party predominantly adopted a non-consequentialist stance, underscoring freedom of expression as a fundamental democratic right, irrespective of its consequences. However, as challenges related to national security and international relations emerged, their positions evolved, revealing internal inconsistencies and a shift toward a consequentialist approach. By August 2023, the Moderates proposed a review of the Public Order Act, incorporating national security considerations, while the Social Democrats suggested amendments to laws against racial hatred to include religious desecrations. In contrast, the Sweden Democrats consistently maintained a non-consequentialist stance, emphasizing the democratic principle of upholding free expression. This study’s findings highlight the complexities and challenges of maintaining consistent political principles amidst changing societal and international landscapes. It underscores the importance of clear foundational principles in the discourse on freedom of expression, contributing to the broader understanding of democratic values in contemporary Sweden.

The Quran burnings in Sweden have made international headlines and have taken its place as one of the most controversial happenings of the year 2023. Due to this, the phenomena have made its way into the political arena of Sweden, being widely discussed by the main political actors of the country. This study aims to analyze Magdalena Andersson (Social Democrats) and Jimmie Åkesson’s (Sweden Democrats) communication regarding the matter with the key objective to analyze the usage of Populism as well as Blame and responsibility when the two actors speak about the Quran crisis. The thesis main method will be a rhetorical analysis. The study found that both Andersson and Åkessons communication regarding the Quran burnings contains populistic traits. Andersson uses more blame in her communication and Åkesson more accountability. Åkesson does unlike Andersson not construct the Quran burnings themselves as a crisis, but rather the sequence of events the phenomena consequently started as such. Due to the results in how blame is communicated, recommended suggestions of further studies could be analyzing if the Swedish political communication has become more hostile by doing a comparative analysis on the present and previous years of political actors communicating.

Information influence from authoritarian states poses significant challenges for democracies all around the world. The projecting of strategic narratives has become a key-strategy in cross border influence. Utilizing the theoretical framework of strategic narratives, this study seeks to comprehend information influence in Russian state media. Specifically, how state-owned Sputnik portrays Sweden concerning the Quran burnings in the country during year 2023. With the use of a narrative analysis the study has investigated how the narratives were constructed and were able to identify recurring patterns in the news reporting. The strategic narratives that was found were (1) Sweden as an Islamophobic country, (2) Ridiculing of Sweden (3) Sweden as a divided country (4) Positive image of Russia (5) Sweden as a country in conflict (6) Sweden as a state in decline.

Year 2023 saw significant international attention on Sweden due to Quran burnings, with over 2 million posts and articles recorded. This event, reminiscent of the 2005 Muhammad cartoon controversy, emphasizes the need to study governmental crisis communication strategies. Our research aims to analyze Sweden's response and identify communication patterns for improvement. The purpose of our study is to, through qualitative content analysis and theories within crisis communication and framing, examine how the government figurated the Quran burnings in 2023 and attempt to identify patterns, changes, and areas for improvement in their communication. We opted for qualitative content analysis to dissect various text materials. This method enables careful examination and categorization of extensive text, deepening our understanding of the subject. Our study examines press releases, press conferences, and social media posts from 2023. The diverse selection allows for nuanced insights into governmental actions and responses, enhancing our analysis. Using a coding scheme, we systematically categorized the collected data, providing a comprehensive view of their approach. The government employed a combination of strategies and communicative measures to address the Quran burnings and their effects. Initially emphasizing the protection of the constitution as paramount, the government later shifted focus to combatting the portrayal of Sweden as incapable of handling such events. Following the Brussels terrorist attack, the messaging underscored the severity of the situation and the government's collaborative security measures, including legislative changes. Throughout the year, the government maintained a dual strategy of highlighting the seriousness of the situation while emphasizing constitutional protection. The study's findings offer insights into crisis communication and framing within the context of the Quran burnings in 2023. While specific to this case, they may inform similar crises for governments or organizations needing effective communication strategies to manage situations and build public trust.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to examine how traditional news media vis-à- vis alternative news media in Sweden portrayed the Quran burnings and the riots which followed during august in the summer of 2020. With the basis in framing theory and intermedia agenda setting we examined these research questions: How do the news papers frame the Quran burnings? What discourses are reproduced? How do the traditional news papers and the alternative news papers framing of the Quran burnings differ from each other?  The qualitative methods used in this bachelor thesis were Robert Entmans framing theory combined with Rens Vliegenthart &amp; Stefaan Walgraves intermedia agenda setting theory. Also, we used different theories regarding populism, clash of civilizations and freedom of speech in order to find various themes in the reporting. For instance, the study applies Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the carnivalesque to examine how the alternative news paper Samnytt framed the Quran burnings.  Through examining news articles, we discovered several preexisting frames and some additional ones. The results showed that the traditional news papers framed the Quran burnings in a laconic way as an intolerant act against Muslims, while the alternative news papers framed the Quran burnings as a clash of civilizations and simultaneously as an act of freedom of speech. In relation to the alternative news papers overly dramatic and sensationalistic discourse, the traditional news papers discourse was more moderate. In this way the populist discourse in the alternative news media and their focus on the “man on the street” is an example of how the alternative news media defines itself as an opposition to the hegemonic “elite” news media institutions. In the alternative news papers, we also found one specific frame concerning anti-Semitism in Malmö, which was not given the same amount of attention by the traditional news papers.  The result of this study shows differences in framing, in line with previous research regarding alternative news media and populism, that could be an example of how the alternative news media is born and defines itself as an alternative to a narrative they deem wrong or lacking in traditional news media. This is primarily an effect of the fact that the traditional news papers lacked diversity in their interviewees since they mostly relied on authority sources, or in one case their own opinion piece writer, to tell the story. The results of this study highlights processes and effects that lies at the core of several phenomenon in this sphere, therefore it should be used to further the research on framing, alternative news media and populism. / <p>En kvalitativ analys av traditionella kontra alternativa nyhetsmediers gestaltning av koranbränningarna i Malmö 2020. </p>

Under sommaren 2023 präglades Sverige av koranbränningar och ett försämrat säkerhetsläge. Studien undersöker svenska partiledares kriskommunikation på plattformen Instagram under denna period och studiens syfte är således att undersöka hur svenska partiledare använde plattformen Instagram som kommunikationskanal för kriskommunikation under sommaren 2023. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys, med semiotiska och retoriska inslag, har vi analyserat sju svenska partiledares Instagram-inlägg under denna tidsperiod. Analysen gjordes med hjälp av ett kodschema och endast de inlägg som var relaterade till ämnet analyserades. Studien utgår från en socialkonstruktivistisk teori, gestaltningsteori, samt teorier om medialisering och medielogik. Med hjälp av retoriska begrepp som ethos, pathos och logos samt de semiotiska begreppen denotation, konnotation och myt kunde analysen utvecklas ytterligare. Studiens resultat visar att partiledarna främst använder Instagram för att förmedla information om krisen, upprätthålla en politisk och sakkunnig image, samt påvisa de åtgärder man gör gällande krisen. Partiledarna visar sällan upp en personlig sida utan är sakliga och opersonliga i sin kommunikation. I resultatet går det även att finna en pågående maktkamp, regeringen och oppositionen emellan. De två allianserna är i en påtaglig konflikt gällande vilka som gör mest för landet i krisen. Sammanfattningsvis går det att visa på att Instagram används av politiker för att förmedla fakta till befolkningen och detta sker genom en envägskommunikation. Även om tidigare forskning visar att det är fördelaktigt för en politiker att vara personlig och nära sin publik i en kriskommunikation, är detta inte något vi kan se hos de svenska partiledarna. / During the summer of 2023, Sweden was marked by Quran burnings and a deteriorating security situation. This study examines the crisis communication of Swedish party leaders on Instagram during this period, with the aim of investigating how Swedish party leaders used Instagram as a channel for crisis communication in the summer of 2023. Through a qualitative content analysis, with an incorporation of semiotic and rhetorical elements, we analyzed the Instagram posts of seven Swedish party leaders during this period. The analysis was conducted using a code scheme, and only posts related to the topic were analyzed. The study is based on a social constructivist theory, narrative theory, as well as theories of mediatization and media logic. Using rhetorical concepts such as ethos, pathos, and logos, as well as semiotic concepts like denotation, connation, and myth, the analysis was further developed.  The results of the study showed that Swedish party leaders primarily used Instagram to convey information about the crisis, maintain a political and knowledgeable image, and demonstrate the measures taken regarding the crisis. Party leaders rarely showed a personal side but rather maintained a factual and impersonal communication style. The results also reveal an ongoing power struggle between the government and the opposition. The two alliances are in a noticeable conflict regarding who is doing the right things for the country during the crisis. In summary, it can be shown that Instagram is used by politicans to convey facts to the population, and this occurs through one-way communication. Altough previous research indicates that it is advantageous for a politican to be personal and close to their audience in crisis communication, this is not observed among Swedish party leaders.

Quran burning is a new phenomenon in Sweden first executed by Rasmus Paludan, the leader of a far-right, anti-immigrant political party - Stram Kurs. These burnings are still a subject of debates and cause a lot of controversy due to the vandalism caused by the local muslim protesters and because many muslims and non-muslims believe that it should be categorized as incitement of hatred against muslims. The purpose of this study is to illuminate how young muslims in Skania, Sweden, perceive the Quran burnings that are protected by the Swedish Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression. The purpose of this study is also to get a picture of how the burnings affect them and to show how this demonstration of freedom of speech affects their freedom of religion. Five semi structured interviews were done to conduct this study. The chosen relevant theories that were used were stigma, islamophobia, the argument from truth and the argument from autonomy. The most important findings of this study are that the interviewed young Swedish muslims believe that there is an error in the Swedish system where laws against incitement of hatred are only applied in some cases, but not other. And that the interviewees feel angry about the police protecting a man who is trying to provoke them by mocking them and their religion. They also question whether they belong in Sweden and are convinced that the Quran burnings will only cause further division in the society of which muslims are a large part of. Another problem that they pointed out is that the media uses the pictures of the vandalizing protesters to spread a negative image of muslims and Islam. Another finding is that the interviewed young Swedish muslims feel that the Quran burnings are a new and legitimate way for islamophobes to attack and offend them. They also feel, however, that their freedom of religion remains unaffected. The last finding is that based on the argument from truth and the argument from autonomy, the Quran burnings do not justify limiting the freedom of expression. The conclusion is that these islamophobic attacks in the form of Quran burnings are a consequence of a tribal stigma that, according to the interviewed young Swedish muslims, muslims in Sweden have to live with. This stigma can even be found in how the interviewed muslims feel the government and the media are treating them. Even if the Quran burnings don’t justify limiting freedom of expression, the problem remains that the interviewees feel that freedom of expression is being used against them. / <p>Mångfaldsstudier</p>