Nearly every other first-time voter consumes political content on TikTok, a sharp increase from the last election, according to a report from the Internetstiftelsen. The report also indicates that TikTok is believed to be a key platform in the autumn election, according to the Internetstiftelsen.
However, the online conversation climate is negatively impacting political participation. One in four first-time voters has refrained from political engagement due to the online conversation climate, the Internetstiftelsen report found. Over one in five Swedes has refrained from expressing opinions online due to fear of harsh criticism, hate, or threats.
Facebook is the platform where the proportion consuming political content has decreased the most, according to the same report. Meta's new ban on paid advertising of political content on Facebook and Instagram is a reason for the decrease in political content consumption on Facebook. Since last fall, major media platforms have banned political parties from advertising, according to Emelie Schröder.
In the last two parliamentary elections, the Moderate Party became the largest party in the age group 18–21. The Moderate Party's youth association Muf is a key success factor in reaching young voters. TikTok was not mentioned in the Moderate Party's election plan for the last election but became one of the most important channels in the campaign.
More people will work with digital communication in the Social Democratic Party's communications department for this election than in any previous election campaign. Among young voters, the Social Democratic Party came in third place in the last election, after the Sweden Democrats. The Social Democratic Party's youth association SSU and S-students are important for talking politics in schools and universities.
TikTok's algorithms work especially well for organic (non-paid) spread. The Sweden Democrats and party leader Jimmie Åkesson have the most followers on TikTok among parliamentary parties. Several political parties in Örebro municipality are on TikTok.
Nearly every other Swede finds it difficult to determine if political content is created with AI, the Internetstiftelsen report notes.