An article by Johannes-Maria Schlorke
These are the now famous bus seats, which caused visual irritation and were often interpreted as women wearing a burqa. Slåttavik didn't take the picture himself, but found it online. Fiete Stegers and Patrick Gensing from the Tagesschau fact finders were able to the origin of the image more precisely.
The picture comes from southern Germany and was taken in August 2016 in the Allgäu. The ARD fact finder researched transport companies in the region and also identified the bus route in question, but the bus company in question did not want to comment further on the picture to the Tagesschau fact finders.
Exclusive interview with Johan Slåttavik
Johan, we are glad that you are taking the time to answer some questions for MIMIKAMA. MIMIKAMA is an organization based in Vienna that aims to uncover fake news and hoaxes on the German-speaking Internet and explain them on our website.
We also reported on one of your Facebook posts after it appeared in the German press.
The BUS SEATS in a picture you posted in the nationalist Facebook group “Fedrelandet viktigst” were mistakenly seen as WOMEN IN BURQAS by many members, many of whom left xenophobic or Islamophobic comments about it.
The blogger Sindre Beyer wrote with amusement on his Facebook profile that right-wing radicals couldn't even distinguish between Muslim women and bus seats. This post made the matter known to a wider public, from where it reached the national and international press.
Mimikama: Various newspapers in Europe picked up the story a few days ago, including many German-language newspapers. Were you surprised by the international press response to your post?
Johan Slåttavik: Well, yes. Actually, it surprised me a lot. I didn't expect anything from it other than a little entertainment for myself.
Mimikama: During our research, we discovered that a female Twitter user named “Sleepy” first posted the image in September 2016. How did you find this image and why did you post it in this group?
Johan Slåttavik: I think I first saw the picture on the Facebook group “Mannegruppa Ottar”, a Norwegian humor group on Facebook. But I think I've seen it before, maybe on 4chan or something.
Mimikama: Were you simply misunderstood or did you expect such feedback? And would you have thought that your article would make it into the European press?
Johan Slåttavik: Misunderstood? No, I think I made my opinion very clear. To ridicule the difference between blind racism and legitimate criticism of immigration to Europe.
Mimikama: At least you ridiculed the members of “Frederdingsda” who saw burkas where there were only bus seats. They probably weren't too happy about it, did you get any threats or inappropriate emails from them because of it?
Johan Slåttavik: not from them. But from Norwegian “anti-racists” who were jealous, yes.
Mimikama: In Germany, the phenomenon of fake news has become a very serious problem in social networks. Various interest groups constantly try to influence public opinion with hoaxes or reports in the wrong context. Is it the same in Norway?
Johan Slåttavik: Yes. We also have fake news in Norway. But ironically, most fake news comes from the mainstream media. Famous examples are the “Ambulance Affair” and the “Gypsy Women Affair”. But also from left and right blogs and other sites that contribute dubious content.
Mimikama: In Germany, nationalist and right-wing populist groups are very active on social media. What about the appearance of comparable groups in Norway?
Johan Slåttavik: Absolutely. Both right-wing and left-wing populists are very active on social media in Norway.
Mimikama: Because of fake news, there are now some organizations and institutions that are trying to expose it on the Internet by debunking and explaining the false facts it contains. Are there fake hunters like this in Norway too?
Johan Slåttavik: Yes, we have the newly launched project Faktisk.no, which aims to detect and expose fake news in Norway. They haven't done a really good job so far, but I think they'll get better with time.
Johan, thank you very much for the interview and we hope that we can continue to read about you and your misunderstood Facebook posts in the future. Johan Slåttavik is a journalist with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Volda University College in Norway.
Johan, we are glad that you are taking the time to answer MIMIKAMA some questions.
MIMIKAMA is an organization based in Vienna with the objective to uncover fake news and hoaxes on the German-speaking internet and to explain them on our website.
We have also reported on one of your Facebook posts after it popped up in the German press. The bus seats in a picture you published in the nationalist Facebook group “Fedrelandet viktigst” were misunderstood by many members as burka-wearing women, lots of them left xenophobic or islamophobic comments.
The blogger Sindre Beyer wrote amusedly on his Facebook profile that right-wing radicals are not even able to distinguish between muslim women and bus seats. This post made the story known to a wider public, from there it found its way into the national and international press .
Mimikama: Different newspapers in Europe picked up the story a few days ago, including many German-language newspapers. Did the international press echo in your post surprise you?
Johan Slåttavik: Well, yes. Actually it did surprise me a lot. I didn't expect much more then personal amusement.
Mimikama: We discovered during our research that a female Twitter user named “Sleepy” posted the picture for the first time in September 2016. How did you find this picture and why did you put it into this group?
Johan Slåttavik: I think I found the picture first on the Facebook group “Mannegruppa Ottar”. A Norwegian humor group on Facebook. But I believe to have seen it earlier as well. Maybe on 4chan or something.
Mimikama: Were you simply misunderstood or did you expect such a feedback? And would you have thought that your post would find its way into the European press?
Johan Slåttavik: Misunderstood? No, I think I made my point quite clearly. To ridicule the difference between blind racism and legitimate criticism of immigration to Europe.
Mimikama: You certainly exposed to ridicule, at least those members of “frederdingsda” who saw burkas where there were actually bus seats. They can't have been too happy about this, have you received threatening or abusive emails from them as a result?
Johan Slåttavik: Not from them. But from Norwegian “anti-racists” that are obvious.
Mimikama: In Germany the phenomenon of fake news has become a very serious problem in social networks. Various interest groups are constantly trying to influence the public opinion with hoaxes or news in a false context. Is that the same in Norway?
Johan Slåttavik: Yes. We have fake news in Norway too. But ironically enough fake news mostly comes from the mainstream media here. Famous examples ar the «Ambulance-affair» and the «Gypsy woman-affair». But also from left-wing and right-wing blogs and other sites that contribute with dubious content.
Mimikama: In Germany, the nationalist and right-wing populist groups are very active on social media. What about the presence of similar groups in Norway?
Johan Slåttavik: Absolutely. Both right-wing populists and left-wing populists are very active on social media in Norway.
Mimikama: Because of Fake News, there are now some organizations and institutions that try to uncover them on the web by unmasking and explaining the false facts they contain. Are there fake hunters in Norway, too?
Johan Slåttavik: Yes, we have the newly launched project Faktisk.no, that aims to discover and debunk fake news stories in Norway. So far they haven't done a very great job, but I believe that they will get better at this with time.
Johan, thank you very much for the interview and we hope to read about you and further misunderstood Facebook post in the future.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

