Did anyone say "electoral fraud"? Analysis of the information environment on social media in the context of the Swedish general elections 2022

In recent years, general elections have become targets for politically motivated information influence activities in several countries in Europe and North America. In several cases, the integrity of the electoral system has been questioned regarding flaws in the voting process, while at the same time the counting of ballots and impartiality of the administration have been questioned. For example, the storming of the Capitol building in Washington D.C. on January 6th, 2021 was based on the then-incumbent President's intense campaign against his own country's electoral system. Rumours of election fraud and a stolen election continue to spread in the USA to this day. Prior to the Swedish parliamentary election in 2022, there were fears that a Swedish version of the American "stop the steal" campaign could emerge. However, this did not happen. But, what did the information environment on social media look like during the election campaign? Were there signs of misinformation or more organized information influence that could have led to a Swedish "stop the steal"? The report presents the results from a study of the Swedish information environment on social media in connection with the 2022 election campaign. The study focuses on four social media platforms: Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, and YouTube. Data was collected both automatically and manually and maps the extent and temporal distribution of discussions about and around the Swedish elections. The results show that there were discussions about electoral fraud that could have laid the groundwork for a campaign. In hindsight we can conclude that this did not happen. The basis for this discussion was ideas about a power-hungry and conspiratorially minded Social Democratic Party in Sweden. The analysis shows that the Swedish electoral fraud debate was mainly driven by a few influential accounts on Twitter and some alternative media. In addition, we identify suspected non-authentic activity on social media, although not to a very big extent. In addition, the report's final chapter provides suggestions for future studies on the development of the information environment over time."