Sweden split on how to handle right-wing student’s ‘harassment’

A national debate over suspension policies in Sweden, triggered by the behaviour of a right-wing blogger whose conduct in a seminar led to the cancellation of the course, has ended with the university deciding against barring him.

Christian Peterson, an undergraduate and self-described “right-wing media personality”, enrolled on the stand-alone Karlstad University course Interculture: Race and Whiteness in Sweden because of what he has said were concerns about its content and the academic running it, Tobias Hübinette.

Mr Peterson had sought to interview Dr Hübinette, himself a blogger and media pundit who writes and speaks about race and racism, eventually enrolling on the latter’s course to bring its content to a wider audience, he told Times Higher Education.

Mr Peterson’s filming of a Zoom seminar led to two students making formal complaints and Dr Hübinette taking sick leave. The rest of the course has been delivered by correspondence. Dr Hübinette said Mr Peterson had “harassed” him inside and outside the course and that he had “mocked” fellow students in the seminar, later posting about them on his blog.

A Karlstad disciplinary panel agreed that Mr Peterson “exposed both students and the course leader to harassment through violations in the form of, among other things, mockery and abuse online and in social media”, but found there was “no reason to suspend the student” under national regulations. Two panellists dissented, including Karlstad vice-chancellor Jerker Moodysson.

“I’m not satisfied with the outcome. I think his actions should be considered disturbing,” Professor Moodysson told THE, referring to Mr Peterson. He said students were free to enrol in courses primarily to critique their content, but not to intentionally disrupt learning, as he believed Mr Peterson had done.

The situation is further complicated by the backgrounds of the two men. Dr Hübinette has been convicted for incitement, harassment and defamation, among other charges, as part of Antifascist Action, a campaign group. Mr Peterson was formerly a member of the neo-Nazi organisation the Nordic Resistance Movement.

Dr Hübinette said the incident was “like a pilot case” for far-right activists in Sweden, warning that they are seeking more influence and presence on university campuses, which are dominated by left-leaning politics, a “culture war” framing also used by Mr Peterson.

The education minister, Mats Persson, told THE in March that an investigation into academic freedom protections at Swedish universities would help address “cancel culture”. THE understands that regulatory changes making it easier to suspend students, promised by Dr Persson in response to the Karlstad case, will not be linked to the freedom probe, which is due to finish in spring 2024. The student suspension reforms are not expected to arrive until 2025 at the earliest.

Professor Moodysson said he was not sure that current regulations dating from 2005 needed to change, but they required an internet-era reinterpretation. “We interact digitally and it’s placeless in a different way than it was before. What I say in the classroom is equivalent to what I say in social media. I think we have to be aware of that,” he said.

Mr Peterson has said he will “probably” re-enrol in Dr Hübinette’s course when it runs again next semester. “The woke agenda is a big topic, and there aren’t many people who actually go and film what they are saying,” he said.

Dr Hübinette said he feared Mr Peterson would bring like-minded students with him. “This time I’m prepared, in a way. But at the same time, I don’t look forward to it, of course, because it means he will destroy another of my courses,” he said.

ben.upton@timeshighereducation.com