Fake news spread abroad about Switzerland is a liability

Falsehoods, distortions, manipulation: Switzerland regularly finds itself the target of foreign misinformation and disinformation. Swissinfo / Vera Leysinger

False claims about Swiss neutrality are circulating internationally. Switzerland needs to do more to ensure that other countries do not have a false image of the country. A Swissinfo analysis.

Is Switzerland still neutral? People ask Google this question, or a similar one, some 14,000 times a month – outside Switzerland and in English. 

In a trial search, an English-language article from Turkish state mediaExternal link shows up quite high on the list. “Why Switzerland is breaking away from 500-year-old neutrality,” says the headline. Although the text itself is more nuanced, the headline sets the wrong tone and skews the readers’ interpretation. And as journalists know, far more people read the headline than the actual article. 

Disinformation from Russian propaganda channels 

There are various reasons why people abroad may be asking Google about Swiss neutrality. One is that foreign players – in particular Russian propaganda channels – are spreading misinformation on the issue. 

It is important that people who take the trouble to research Swiss neutrality have access to reliable and accurate information. Anyone who claims that Switzerland is no longer neutral is assuming that Switzerland has picked a side. And anyone who has taken sides can be viewed with hostility. 

It is therefore in Switzerland’s interest to ensure that its neutrality, which has been the guiding principle of its foreign policy since 1815, is correctly communicated to the international public.  

If a person hears over and over again that Switzerland is no longer neutral, they can easily come to perceive this as the dominant view. This is the case even if the statement is made multiple times by the same source but reaches them through different channels. Frequently repeated untruths have a proven effect. 

The same video, different narratives: on the internet, anything can be twisted to suit any purpose. Swissinfo / Vera Leysinger

‘Switzerland looks like a war zone’: A video from Bern  

This spring, millions of people watched a roughly 30-second video from Bern. It shows tear gas in the air and people fleeing. These are scenes from a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Bern. The video was shared by dozens of accounts on platforms such as X, accompanied by statements made more or less out of context. “Switzerland looks like a war zone right now,” read one post that reached millions. The user with an anonymous account claimed that the demonstrators wanted to storm the synagogue and lynch Jewish people. 

The facts are as follows: there was a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Bern that escalated. The police had the situation under control. The co-president of the Jewish Community Bern thanked the police for their swift interventionExternal link. The Jewish Community Bern and the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities expressed the anxiety felt by Jewish peopleExternal link as the demonstration had reached the street near the synagogue. The demonstrators told the Swiss free daily 20 Minuten that they had wanted to go to the nearby US embassy. The police told the same media outlet that they could not “rule out” that parts of the demonstration wanted to go “to the synagogue and the embassies”. 

The misleading texts accompanying the videos varied greatly in their misrepresentation. One British user with a large following claimed that this alleged “storming of the synagogue” was part of a “globalist plan to break the West from within.” This refers to a well-known conspiracy theory with an anti-Semitic subtext. 

On that day, the US EmbassyExternal link in Bern advised its citizens to seek information from trustworthy media sources – the English-language service of Swissinfo foremost among them. But such viral videos still have an impact and serious journalism cannot investigate every misrepresentation. On the whole, it is considered more important for democracy to educate the population in media literacyExternal link. In this way, everyone can learn to question the manipulation techniques for themselves. 

But when it comes to audiences abroad, a country like Switzerland has no other option than to educate through the media – in as many languages ​​as possible. 

A criminal and unsafe country 

The posts featuring the video of the Bern demonstration took a real event, distorted the context and helped build a climate of insecurity and polarisation. As a side effect, they portrayed Switzerland as an unstable, unsafe country where the police had lost control. 

The view that Switzerland is unsafe is also prevalent on Chinese social media. On platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, Switzerland is often depicted as a racist, criminal country. Numerous Chinese describe online how they were robbed or mugged in Switzerland. Security checks on prospective Chinese students are blown up in Chinese discourse and presented as a “ban on Chinese students”. An article in the Swiss daily Blick, in which a Chinese student describes racist insultsExternal link endured while applying for a flat, was translated and widely circulated. 

The narrative that Switzerland has given up its neutrality is also widespread in China. According to such posts, if China invaded Taiwan, Switzerland would freeze all Chinese bank accounts because the United States – according to one popular post – is blackmailing Swiss banks using the SWIFT system. Politically, the authors of the posts say, Switzerland has abandoned its neutrality and is vulnerable to blackmail. 

These narratives in Chinese discourse do not have an immediately identifiable, common origin. However, they appear in a censored environment and paint an anti-Chinese picture of Swiss society and the Swiss economy. Once more, these users portray Switzerland as an unstable country. 

Misconceptions about Swiss banks 

Journalists working at Swissinfo’s Arabic language service hear similar sentiments from their readers in response to the platform’s articles on the activities of Swiss banks. This topic clearly touches a nerve with Arabic-speaking audiences. Indeed, numerous videos on social media claim that it is possible to open an anonymous numbered account in Switzerland without disclosing one’s identity. And that Arab dictators and elites hide their money in this way –  just linked to a number. In reality, no one can open a bank account in Switzerland without revealing their identity. 

False claims about Switzerland are also doing the rounds in Arabic-speaking countries with regard to migration. A video in Arabic recently went viral on TikTok claiming that Switzerland was planning to deport all migrants by June 2025. 

This fake news does not pose a direct security threat to Switzerland. But instead of presenting a nuanced picture of reality, it creates a distorted image. And this paints a false picture of the country. 

Neutrality the key issue 

There are also misleading representations of Swiss neutrality in the Arab world. “Is Switzerland really neutral with regard to Palestine?” asked Al JazeeraExternal link in a comprehensive review in late 2024. The text first gives a chronological breakdown of how long Switzerland maintained a balanced position in the Middle East conflict – before stating that Switzerland abandoned this position after October 7, 2023. One of the reasons put forward for this allegation is the fact that Switzerland recognises Hamas as a terrorist organisation. The “new pro-Israel stance” the article contends, is due to the growing clout of the Swiss right wing. 

Is Switzerland still neutral – or has it abandoned its neutrality? This is arguably the key security-related question for Switzerland in the international arena today. 

While a journalist writing under his own name for the Qatari state mediaExternal link Al Jazeera ventures a strong interpretation, Russian state media such as RT Deutsch (formerly Russia Today) spreads anonymous disinformation. 

Not information, but a clear message: Russian propaganda is particularly interested in Swiss neutrality. Swissinfo / Vera Leysinger

Switzerland in Russian propaganda 

In late 2024, an RT audio report claimed that Switzerland was moving closer to NATO “largely behind closed doors”. The report warns that a possible abandonment of neutrality could “drag Switzerland into the geopolitical conflicts of the West”. In previous reports, RT claimed that Switzerland had already shed its neutrality – for instance because of former Swiss cabinet minister and president Viola Amherd, who was “pro-NATO”. This contradictory chronology shows the malicious intent of the authors: the aim is not to provide coherent information but to spread negative narratives. 

Since early 2024, RT has increased its coverage of Switzerland. Its German-language homepage even has a small Switzerland logo at the top, presumably to legitimise the reporting. For, although the platform is still accessible online in Germany, the European Union banned RT after the start of Russia’s war of aggression. 

Not every RT report about Switzerland contains misinformation, of course. And not every report deals overtly with a political topic. Thus, RT also published an Ode to Sascha Ruefer, the controversial football commentator on Swiss television. But even this report, which targets a non-political audience, fuels resentment. The same can be said of an audio article claiming that Switzerland’s largest private media company has gone bankrupt and is spreading pro-Ukrainian propaganda. This story reached an audience of millions. 

It is often said that RT has limited outreach. StudiesExternal link have shown, however, that its content does find an audience. This is achieved partly through so-called “alternative media” that refer to RT or directly replicate its articles. The Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche has also reproduced articles from RTExternal link. This creates a media ecosystem of its own. 

Risk of disinformation in foreign languages 

It is unlikely that this media ecosystem will prevail in the Swiss national languages. What is far more likely is that disinformation on specific topics will dominate in certain other languages. 

The 14,000 English-language Google searches on Swiss neutrality come from people who want to form their own opinion. Today, they are able to receive accurate and factual information on the subject. 

The top search results come from Wikipedia, Swissinfo – and the Swiss foreign ministry. The ministry’s explanations may be accurate, but they come from a government agency. Sceptical readers will only learn that Switzerland presents itself as neutral. 

The English Wikipedia article on Swiss neutrality carries a warning banner stating that this article has “multiple issuesExternal link”. 

The Swissinfo article that comes up seeks to explain Swiss neutrality – how it came about and what form it takes – in an objective manner. It elucidates, among other things, the key difference between neutrality law and neutrality policy. The article was written by our foreign affairs beat journalist and reviewed by our editor-in-chief. 

Is Switzerland safe from disinformation? 

Not all false content is disinformation. Disinformation refers to misleading or false information that is spread with malicious intent. 

In democracies, as British espionage expert Rory Cormac put it, disinformation targets social fault lines. It latches onto strongly charged issues on which people have clear opposing positions. 

The most famous example of disinformation in Switzerland occurred in autumn 2022, when a fake poster on social media called on people to report neighbours who overheated their homes to the authorities. This fake poster sought to stir up fears of an energy crisis and an increasingly authoritarian state. But it also targeted the existing divide over whether the adoption of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would harm Swiss prosperity. The poster was a well-crafted fake – not least because the supposed informant hotline was a real Swiss government telephone number. 

The fake was quickly exposed and widely reported as such by the media. However, people who have already lost trust in the media may well continue to harbour doubts about this portrayal.  

Differing views on resilience 

Within Switzerland, views differ on just how resilient the country is to disinformation. The fact that the country is small, has four official languages, has a federal structure and is a non-EU member at the heart of Europe means that it is not an attractive target for disinformation. What is more, the Swiss are accustomed to forming their own opinions – including with exaggerated, and sometimes factually incorrect, promotional material – thanks to the regular referendum campaigns. So they should already be well aware of the risks of disinformation. This was one of the findings in the handbook Digitalisierung der Schweizer Demokratie (Digitalisation of Swiss Democracy). 

Some people, meanwhile – among them Touradj Ebrahimi, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne – believe that disinformation could be particularly harmful to Switzerland precisely because of its frequent referendums. A population that often goes to the ballot box needs to be particularly well informed. And if an international player had some interest in a voting issue, Switzerland would be vulnerable. 

All in all, though, Switzerland is more likely to be the subject of disinformation on international matters than on domestic debates. This is because many international organisations are based in Switzerland, which is a highly globalised country, both politically and economically. 

With contributions from: May Elmahdi Lichtsteiner, Kristian Foss Brandt, Elena Servettaz, Ying Zhang 

Edited by Mark Livingston. Adapted from German by Julia Bassam/ac.