Siv, Facebook and Racism

I came across Siv Jensen’s fan page on Facebook just by coincidence. I‘m a fan of a number of other politicians from various parties, and immediately became a fan of Siv as well. I think it's great that politicians get involved in the media channels where they find the “people” and not least, it gives me a great opportunity to keep myself informed about opinions and discussions. It's not often I have time to watch the news anymore, to say it this way ....Life as an Entrepreneur consumes you!

I also think that Siv is a cool lady

and a woman that I have respect for. Do I share all of her views? No. Am I a member of FrP? No. Do I agree with some of the issues she and her party stands for? Yes. Just the way I agree with some of the issues most of the parties stand for, which is why I find it so incredible difficult to decide which party to vote for….. As a politician, I think Siv is great! She is extremely good on stage, she speaks clearly and she does well in debates. She speaks to the people. They understand her and she capitalizes on that. I was at the Autumn Conference for the Economists Society a few years ago where high profile representatives from all the parties spoke. Siv represented FrP and was the only one there that actually spoke “to” the audience; the rest just read their scripts. You might not agree with her views, but it’s hard to argue that she is not good!

However, after spending some time reading her Facebook page, I got disappointed…. and quite shocked actually. Not with the way she expresses herself or her point of views, but the way that she has opened up her page. Her page is full of racist comments and hate messages made by members/fans since the page is completely uncensored.

• All members / fans can comment on Siv's posts
• All members / fans can be easily post their own post on the page

The first point works well in most cases, but for Siv and FrP, this means that the site attracts a lot of racists who post all kinds of racist comments. There are many - me included - who will not want to be associated with FrP, when such statements freely get published on one of FrP’s channels.