Metapedia

Last updated

Metapedia
Metapedia English logo.png
English logo
Type of site
 Internet encyclopedia
Available inEnglish, German, Spanish, Swedish, French, Norwegian, Greek, Romanian, Estonian, Slovak, Czech, Portuguese, Croatian, Danish, Dutch
OwnerNFSE Media AB, Linköping, Sweden
URL en.metapedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (English Metapedia)
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional, via e-mail (required for editing)
Launched26 October 2006;17 years ago (2006-10-26)
Current statusActive
Content license
 GNU Free Documentation License 1.3

Metapedia is an online wiki-based encyclopedia. Its views have been described as fascist, far-right, white nationalist, white supremacist, anti-feminist, homophobic, Islamophobic, anti-semitic, Holocaust-denying and neo-Nazi.

Contents

History

The Swedish Metapedia was founded in 2006 by Anders Lagerström (born October 14, 1977), a neo-Nazi publisher from Linköping, Sweden. [1] [2] About Lagerström, the Swedish newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten wrote:

Anders Lagerström has long been involved in extreme right-wing organizations. In 2000, he was convicted of spraying tear gas in the face of a police officer. In 2002 he started the Nordic publishing house, which specializes in issuing and selling Nazi literature and white power music. Lagerström is also a prominent figure in the Nordic Federation. The Nazi organization seems to be creating a "Nordic nation state". The organization's website says the following about how this imaginary nation should look: "It means a society populated by a people, and a state power and mass media entirely under Nordic control." [3]

Swedish historian Rasmus Fleischer wrote:

In 2007, another network began to crystallize within Europe's radical right but with a vastly different ideological character. Activists from the Swedish group Nordiska Förbundet made a coordinated effort to use the internet to propagate a more 'positive' image of neo fascist [ sic ], third position and national revolutionary politics. They created a blog portal (Motpol.nu), a web community (Nordisk.nu) and a wiki site (Metapedia). Today there exist a dozen editions of Metapedia, making it a vital medium for dissemination of the ideology labeled here as "multi-fascism". Metapedia tends to promote antisemitism in a cautious way, not stating too much in words but instead using the hyperlinked wiki format to make insinuations about a Jewish conspiracy. [4]

Content

Metapedia describes itself as being an alternative to Wikipedia that focuses on culture, art, science, history, politics and philosophy. As of June 2022, the site has more than 7,200 articles in English; [5] topics covered include European history and politics. [6] Crítica de la Argentina says Metapedia has glowing descriptions of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi figures. [7] The historian Daniel Goldhagen describes it as seeking "to create (currently in 18 languages) an anti-Semitic informational universe." [8] Metapedia calls the Holocaust a genocide only according to "politically correct history" and refers to former U.S. President Barack Obama as a "mixed race former president". [9] Its content has been noted for its fascist, far-right, white nationalist, white supremacist, anti-feminist, homophobic, Islamophobic, anti-semitic, Holocaust-denying, and neo-Nazi points of view. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

The wiki covers a total of 17 languages, with German Metapedia being the most developed. [15]

According to the North Rhine-Westphalian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Metapedia's articles are characterized by historical negationism and lauding Nazi Germany. [14] [2] For this reason, the German Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien) started an indexing process, which would consider as to whether Metapedia is "harmful to young people". [16] [ needs update ]

In early 2007, within half a year of the launching of the original Swedish edition, Metapedia received much Swedish media attention for its similarity to Wikipedia (it uses MediaWiki, the same software as Wikipedia and so has a similar visual style) and some of its contents, in particular for its positive characterization of many Nazi German personalities, for cataloguing Jews in Swedish media, and for characterizing Swedish companies as either "Swedish-owned" or "Jewish-owned". [17] [18] This led to an investigation by the Chancellor of Justice (Justitiekanslern) to decide whether the site should be prosecuted for inciting hatred or for violating the Swedish Privacy Law ( Personuppgiftslagen  [ sv ]). [19] After reviewing the site's contents, the Chancellor of Justice decided to terminate investigations, since nothing had been found that violated the Freedom of Speech Act ( Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen  [ sv ]) or the Privacy Law. [20] In January 2009, in a response to further attention given to the site, the Swedish Chancellor of Justice opined that Metapedia presented a positive image of Adolf Hitler, but decided not to restart an investigation since this was not illegal. [21]

In a June 2017 article, Alexis Sobel Fitts from Wired noted that the Hungarian and German Metapedia are "especially popular". [9] As of 2022, the Hungarian version is closed.

Operation

Metapedia runs on MediaWiki, a free and open-source wiki software platform written in PHP and built upon the MySQL database. [16] [22] [23]

Metapedia is headed by Lagerström and Lennart Berg, who also runs the supporting NFSE Media AB. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweden Democrats</span> Political party in Sweden

The Sweden Democrats is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply, and is the second largest party in the Riksdag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linköping Municipality</span> Municipality in Östergötland County, Sweden

Linköping Municipality is a municipality in Östergötland County in southern Sweden. With more than 165,000 inhabitants, it is the fifth largest municipality in Sweden.

Ecofascism is a term used to describe individuals and groups which combine environmentalism with fascism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Arklöv</span> Swedish criminal

Jackie Banny Arklöv is a Swedish convicted criminal. Arklöv is an ex-neo-Nazi and Yugoslav Wars mercenary and war criminal, who, with two other neo-Nazis, murdered two police officers after a bank robbery in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservapedia</span> American conservative wiki-based online encyclopedia

Conservapedia is an English-language, wiki-based, online encyclopedia written from a self-described American conservative and fundamentalist Christian point of view. The website was established in 2006 by American homeschool teacher and attorney Andrew Schlafly, son of the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, to counter what he perceived as a liberal bias in Wikipedia. It uses editorials and a wiki-based system for content generation.

Until the late 2000s terrorism in Sweden was not seen as a serious threat to the security of the state. However, there has been a rise in far right and Islamist terrorist activity in the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Rohlin</span> Swedish former footballer (born 1980)

Barbro Charlotte Rohlin is a Swedish former footballer who played as a defender and captained Damallsvenskan club Linköpings FC. She won 77 caps for the Sweden women's national football team between 2007 and 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racism in Sweden</span> Overview of racism in Sweden

Racism and xenophobia have been reported and investigated in Sweden. Sweden has the most segregated labor market of people with foreign background in Europe, when measured against both high and low educational level by OECD statistics. According to the European Network Against Racism, skin color and ethnic/religious background have significant impact on an individual's opportunities in the labor market.

The Antifascistisk aktion (AFA) is a far-left, extra-parliamentary, anti-fascist movement in Sweden, whose stated goal is to "smash fascism in all its forms". Some of its members are influenced by the theory of triple oppression, and all of its members claim to oppose sexism, racism, and classism. The point of the organization is to exchange information and to coordinate activities between local groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordic Resistance Movement</span> Pan-Nordic neo-Nazi movement

The Nordic Resistance Movement is a pan-Nordic neo-Nazi movement in the Nordic countries and a political party in Sweden. Besides Sweden, it is established in Norway, Denmark and Iceland, and formerly in Finland before it was banned in 2019. Terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp has described the NRM as a terrorist organization due to their aim of abolishing democracy along with their paramilitary activities and weapons caches. In 2022, some members of the United States Congress began calling for the organization to be added to the United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattias Löw</span> Swedish filmmaker and photographer

Mattias Löw is a Swedish film director, documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Stockholm and Motala, who specializes in social issues documentaries and documentary photography. He gives lectures and workshops on the topics of storytelling and documentary filmmaking, in addition to occasional acting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Skyttedal</span> Swedish politician

Sara Magdalena Skyttedal is a Swedish politician previously of the Christian Democrats party. She was elected Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 European Parliament election in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NärCon</span> Combined gaming and anime convention

Närcon is a combined gaming and anime convention which is arranged several times per year in Linköping, Sweden by NärCon Eventbyrå AB. It is the largest event of its kind in Scandinavia. The main event usually starts at the end of July and offers activities such as board games, card games and roleplaying activities. Additionally, there are rooms dedicated for computer and console gaming. Competitive e-sports tournaments are also arranged.

The Revolutionary Front was a far-left extremist political and militant network in Sweden. The goal of the RF was to dismantle the current society through a revolution and create a socialist state. The group fought against fascism, racism, sexism and capitalism, and campaigned through violent means.

Ingvar Svensson is a Swedish former footballer and manager who played as a midfielder and made six appearances for the Sweden national team.

Alt-tech are social media platforms and Internet service providers that have become popular among the alt-right, far-right, and others who espouse extremism or fringe theories, often because they employ less stringent content moderation than mainstream platforms. The term "alt-tech" is a portmanteau of "alt-right" and "Big Tech". In the 2010s, some prominent conservatives and their supporters began to use alt-tech platforms because they had been banned from other social media platforms. Alt-tech platforms describe themselves as protectors of free speech and individual liberty, which researchers and journalists have alleged may be a cover for antisemitism and terrorism.

References

  1. ↑ Popkonsertbloggen (8 February 2007). "Nazistsida blir fall för JK - Linköping - Corren.se - Nyheter Linköping Östergötland" (in Swedish). Corren.se. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 Arnstad, Henrik (23 November 2015). "Ikea Fascism: Metapedia and the Internationalization of Swedish Generic Fascism". Fascism. 4 (2): 194–208. doi: 10.1163/22116257-00402002 . ISSN   2211-6257.
  3. ↑ Popkonsertbloggen (21 February 2008). "Nazist anhållen för grovt rån - Nyheter - Corren.se - Nyheter Linköping Östergötland" (in Swedish). Corren.se. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  4. ↑ Fleischer, Rasmus (2014). "Two Fascism". In Deland, Mats; Minkenberg, Michael; Mays, Cristin (eds.). In the Tracks of Breivik: Far Right Networks in Northern and Eastern Europe. Lit Verlag. p. 63. ISBN   978-3643905420.
  5. ↑ "Metapedia".
  6. ↑ "Aryan Encyclopedia Takes Off". Intelligence Report. Montgomery, Alabama: Southern Poverty Law Center. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "Llegó la Wikipedia de ultraderecha" (in Spanish). Crítica de la Argentina.
  8. ↑ Goldhagen, Daniel (18 October 2013). "How the Web spreads anti-Semitism". CNN . Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  9. 1 2 Sobel Fitts, Alexis (21 June 2017). "Welcome to the Wikipedia of the Alt-Right". Wired . ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Adam G. Klein (June 2010). A Space for Hate: The White Power Movement's Adaptation Into Cyberspace. Litwin Books. pp. 93, 104–105. ISBN   978-1-936117-07-9.
  11. ↑ Perrine Signoret (27 June 2017). "Infogalactic, Metapedia, Conservapedia: l'extrême droite aussi a ses "Wikipédia"". LExpansion.com (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  12. ↑ Haines, Lester (23 July 2007). "Conservapedia too pinko? Try Metapedia - Aryans battle 'Cultural Marxism'". Theregister.co.uk . Situation Publishing. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  13. ↑ Schweyer, Cléo (15 July 2009). "L'extrême droite s'offre une seconde jeunesse sur le web". cafebabel.fr (in French). Babel International. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  14. 1 2 "Metapedia" als nationales Pendant zu "Wikipedia" Archived 15 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine (i.e "Metapedia" as a nationalist counterpart to "Wikipedia") from: "Report by the NRW Office for the Protection of the Constitution for the year 2008" by the Ministry of Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia. pp. 59f. (in German)
  15. 1 2 Sobel Fitts, Alexis (21 June 2017). "Welcome to the Wikipedia of the Alt-Right | Backchannel". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  16. 1 2 Bulletin of the German Parliament 16/10215 from 12 September 2008, pp. 6f.: Answer of the German government to a parliamentary query by the Green Member of the German Parliament Monika Lazar (in German)
  17. ↑ "Judeförföljelser på internet" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 8 February 2007. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  18. ↑ Propagandapedia Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Kristianstadsbladet, 20 February 2007 (in Swedish)
  19. 1 2 Nazistsida blir fall för JK Östgöta Correspondenten, 9 February 2007 (in Swedish), Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ Ingen förundersökning kring Metapedia Archived 5 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine , Sveriges Radio Östergötland, 20 February 2007 (in Swedish)
  21. ↑ JK: Positiv text om Hitler inte hets mot folkgrupp [ permanent dead link ] Föreningen Grävande Journalister, 26 January 2009 (in Swedish)
  22. ↑ Judeförföljelser på internet Archived 9 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine , Dagens Nyheter, 8 February 2007 (in Swedish)
  23. ↑ Extremisternas "uppslagsverk" kan vara olagligt [ permanent dead link ], Östgöta Correspondenten, 9 February 2007 (in Swedish)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.