Hyperreality, Polarization and Prejudice: Social Media Descriptions of Swedish Child Welfare Services

ABSTRACT This article examines how the Swedish child welfare services (CWSs) are described in Arabic‐speaking social media, with a focus on the ‘LVU campaign.’ The material consists of Facebook and YouTube posts and comments about the Swedish CWSs' actions in child mistreatment cases involving migrant families. These posts and comments were written in Arabic, had a substantial number of interactions (likes, shares etc.), were openly accessible and were published between January 2021 and December 2023. Through thematic analysis of posts and comments, four themes emerge: ‘The heartless CWS bandits,’ ‘Sweden in moral decline (the land of haram),’ ‘The infidel West at war with Islam and God’ and ‘Faithful, just and loving families.’ These themes are further examined through three conceptual dichotomies: particularism–universalism, reality–hyperreality and the construction of ‘us’–‘them.’ The analysis shows that social media accounts shape perceptions of ‘the other’ and fuel mistrust in the commentary fields of posts of ‘real’ events. The accounts illustrate the challenge of balancing universal rights with respect for cultural differences and the minority rights of migrant families. The study highlights how such dynamics can accentuate in‐group preferences and fuel inter‐group polarization by amplifying certain versions of reality to explain the CWSs' actions towards migrant families.