My least favorite thing abt living in #Sweden is the type of thing that happened on Twitter today. I was told to stop using English on my own social media account if I want to criticize government policy in Sweden. I should also refer to Sweden only in the first person ("we"). 1/

Also this is a personal social media account. I use the global lingua franca to reach a broader audience. If you don't like the language, perhaps I'm not tweeting for you. Pedestrians in Sthlm regularly chastise me for speaking English TO MY DOG.

Why must I speak Swedish in my private capacity? Then there is the general belief, common in Sweden, that "outsiders" should not criticize Sweden. Susan Sontag wrote about the bizarre, severe sensitivity to foreigners' criticism of Sweden in a 1969 essay on the country.

So it's nothing new, but it is frustrating. Also, it's deeply hypocritical. The debate pages of Swedish newspapers - and indeed, most of the Swedish public - express strong, detailed, nuanced, highly critical opinions of other countries (especially the US) every day. In Swedish.

The person who criticized me today appears to be, in fact, a journalist. Why do Swedes feel that they should be able to write critically about other governments/cultures in their own (rather arcane) language but take such offense at use of the lingua franca to criticize Sweden?

Whether I'm an outsider or an insider, discussing Sweden as an entity distinct from myself (as a scholar of government, I do the same with the US, for the record) in the language I choose should not be particularly offensive - unless and until Swedes refrain from doing the same.

Just to note - I read the news in Swedish every day and speak decent Swedish. But my Twitter, my rules.

@highamian @TheLocalSweden You should not be able to obtain citizenship until you have learnt fluent Swedish and sworn allegiance to King, God, Flag and People.