27 August 2010

TV4 refuses to air Sweden Democrat ads

Swedish TV channel TV4 announced on Friday that it has refused to broadcast a campaign advert by the far-right Sweden Democrats because it claims it contains racial hatred.

The party wanted to pay the channel 1.5 million kronor ($201,240) to run the ad. The half-minute advert shows a race in which an elderly woman with a walker is chased by a group of burqa-clad women pushing prams with a slogan promising to safeguard pension funding at the expense of immigration.

As an alarm-like sound plays in the background, a voiceover says, "All politics are about priorities - now you have a choice." The clip promotes the Sweden Democrats' demand that, like other parties, pensioners' taxes be cut to the same levels of wage earners. However, they claim their plans would be funded by reducing immigration. [The Local] Read more