There has been a storm surrounding the Social Democrats' media company Aip Media in recent weeks.
The company has been criticized for, among other things, lack of clarity about who is behind the political messages being spread and for information being collected and used in a questionable manner.
“Didn’t know”
Aftonbladet Kultur has reviewed how various AIP sites, including Schyst and Politikkollen, collect data even without consent. Something that, according to the newspaper, violates the EU's data protection regulation.
– We were not aware that data was collected before consent, says Daniel Färm, CEO of Aip Media.
Färm places some of the responsibility on a web provider that was hired. But now two so-called pixels, a type of tracking tool used on websites, have been shut down by Aip Media, according to Färm.
The pixels collect data and information about people who visit the sites. Data that can then be used for marketing and targeted ads. According to Aftonbladet, Aip has used such information for targeted messages on the Snapchat platform, whose AI bot then adapts its responses based on the information.
Not trying to control
According to Daniel Färm, Aip has not tried to control Snapchat's AI bot.
The company has also been criticized after a review by TV4 for lack of clarity regarding social media posts and who the sender is behind various accounts and sites.
The Moderates have, among other things, called Aip Media a "troll factory". S has defended itself by saying that it is possible to see who is behind Aip's accounts, unlike the accounts that TV4's Kalla fakta revealed in the spring to be behind by SD.
No one needs to go in and work undercover for six months to see who is behind it, S leader Magdalena Andersson has previously told TT.
Daniel Färm states that he sees no problem with how Aip presents its accounts and sites.
On Tuesday it became clear that the editor-in-chief of Aip Media's newspaper Aktuellt i Politiken, Jenny Åkervall, will be on leave from the beginning of the year. The leave of absence had been requested previously, according to Färm. According to him, Åkervall also has no responsibility for Aip Media's actions online.
Åkervall is an active municipal politician for S in Danderyd, and according to Färm, it is important not to have an active politician as editor-in-chief as the plan is for the newspaper to become more of a general news magazine.
