STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Foreign powers are using social media apps to recruit Swedish gangs and even children for violent attacks against targets like the Israeli embassy, Sweden’s police chief said on Tuesday.
Petra Lundh, the National Police Commissioner, did not specify which foreign powers, but last year Sweden’s security service said the Iranian government had been using criminal networks within Sweden to carry out violent acts.
Lundh said several attacks targeting Israel’s embassy in Stockholm in 2024 – including shootings and an attempted bombing – were examples of hybrid attacks, which use both conventional and unconventional means to create instability.
“It’s an opponent that doesn’t wear a uniform and it’s a threat that we can’t get at through traditional military defence methods,” she said.
Sweden is grappling with a gang crime wave and over the last couple of years the gangs have started using social media apps as digital marketplaces for murder and other violent crimes.
“This is something we haven’t seen before. It is exploited not only by criminal groups but also by other states,” Lundh said during a speech at a national security conference.
Sweden had by far the highest number of deadly shootings per capita in the EU in 2023, although 2024 saw a reduction in gun deaths. Many of the perpetrators are under 18 years old and in some cases as young as 12 or 13.
“These children are basically used as disposable assets,” Lundh said. “We have children who, instead of going to school, act as torpedoes and sometimes even for foreign powers in worldwide conflicts,” she added.
The Swedish government has not ruled out banning social media apps for children.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Ros Russell)
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