Metapedia

History

The Swedish Metapedia was founded in 2006 by , a neo-Nazi publisher from Linköping, Sweden. 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 [Swedish Police Authority

Swedish historian [Rasmus Fleischer wrote:

Content

Metapedia describes itself as being an alternative to Wikipedia that focuses on culture, art, science, history, politics and philosophy. The site has more than 4,500 articles in English; topics covered include European history and politics. According to Crítica de la Argentina, Metapedia has glowing descriptions of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi figures. The historian Daniel Goldhagen describes it as seeking "to create (currently in 18 languages) an anti-Semitic informational universe." 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". Its content has been noted for its neo-Nazi points of view.

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

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. 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".

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". 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 ({{ill|Personuppgiftslagen|sv}}). 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 ({{ill|Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen|sv}}) or the Privacy Law. 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.

In a June 2017 article, Alexis Sobel Fitts from Wired noted that the Hungarian and German Metapedia are "especially popular". 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.

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

References

References

1. Popkonsertbloggen. (2007-02-08). "Nazistsida blir fall för JK - Linköping - Corren.se - Nyheter Linköping Östergötland". Corren.se.
2. Arnstad, Henrik. (2015-11-23). "Ikea Fascism: Metapedia and the Internationalization of Swedish Generic Fascism". Fascism.
3. Popkonsertbloggen. (21 February 2008). "Nazist anhållen för grovt rån - Nyheter - Corren.se - Nyheter Linköping Östergötland". Corren.se.
4. Fleischer, Rasmus. (2014). "In the Tracks of Breivik: Far Right Networks in Northern and Eastern Europe". Lit Verlag.
5. (2007). "Aryan Encyclopedia Takes Off". [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].
6. "Llegó la Wikipedia de ultraderecha". [[Crítica de la Argentina]].
7. Goldhagen, Daniel. (18 October 2013). "How the Web spreads anti-Semitism". [[CNN]].
8. Adam G. Klein. (June 2010). "A Space for Hate: The White Power Movement's Adaptation Into Cyberspace". [[Litwin Books]].
9. (27 June 2017). "Infogalactic, Metapedia, Conservapedia: l'extrême droite aussi a ses "Wikipédia"".
10. Haines, Lester. (2007-07-23). "Conservapedia too pinko? Try Metapedia - Aryans battle 'Cultural Marxism'". Situation Publishing.
11. Schweyer, Cléo. (2009-07-15). "L'extrême droite s'offre une seconde jeunesse sur le web". Babel International.
12. [http://www.mik.nrw.de/uploads/media/Verfassungsschutzbericht_2008.pdf "Metapedia" als nationales Pendant zu "Wikipedia"] {{webarchive. link. (15 May 2013 (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 lang). de
13. Sobel Fitts, Alexis. (2017-06-21). "Welcome to the Wikipedia of the Alt-Right {{!}} Backchannel".
14. [http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/16/102/1610215.pdf 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 lang. de
15. (8 February 2007). "Judeförföljelser på internet". [[Dagens Nyheter]].
16. [http://www.kristianstadsbladet.se/kultur/article1042977/Propagandapedia.html Propagandapedia] {{Webarchive. link. (28 September 2011 [[Kristianstadsbladet]], 20 February 2007 {{in lang). sv
17. sv. Nazistsida blir fall för JK] [[Östgöta Correspondenten]], 9 February 2007 {{in lang. sv, {{Webarchive. link. (23 September 2015)
18. sv. Ingen förundersökning kring Metapedia] {{webarchive. link. (5 February 2008, Sveriges Radio Östergötland, 20 February 2007 {{in lang). sv
19. sv. JK: Positiv text om Hitler inte hets mot folkgrupp]{{dead link. (June 2017). sv
20. [http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/debatt-essa/judeforfoljelser-pa-internet-1.646996 Judeförföljelser på internet] {{Webarchive. link. (9 October 2010 , [[Dagens Nyheter]], 8 February 2007 {{in lang). sv
21. sv