What is #SwedenGate, the hashtag currently trending on Twitter?

A new hashtag, #SwedenGate, is going viral on social media. It all started with a post on the popular Reddit forum r/AskReddit when u/sebastian25525 asked the question:

What is the weirdest thing you had to do at someone else’s house because of their culture/religion?

And it was one Reddit user’s response that shocked the internet:

I remember going to my Swedish friend’s house. And while we were playing in his room, his mom yelled that dinner was ready. And check this. He told me to WAIT in his room while they ate.

#SwedenGate

This response sparked outrage and online debate, with the hashtag #SwedenGate trending on Twitter. As reported by New York Post, it has people reconsidering their perception of the Scandinavian country, which UNICEF ranked as the most family friendly in 2019.

@luckytilldeathx tweeted:

Over 100 years of Sweden being seen as such… a good place to live and a screenshot has ruined them.

While most were horrified to discover that Swedes are unlikely to invite guests (especially other children who are playing at their house) to eat with them at mealtime, this practice is perfectly normal in the country. As reported by The New York Times, when it’s time to eat, a child might go home, stay in the friend’s room and play, or join the family and the table and simply not eat.

A tradition not exclusive to Sweden

Linda Johansson explains for The Independent:

The Swedish thinking goes like this: the other child (or the other family) may have plans for another kind of dinner, and you wouldn’t want to ruin the routine or preparations. I don’t think it is anything to do with not wanting to feed the other child or because it costs money or anything like that, it’s more to do with tradition and wanting to eat with your own family.

Sofi Tegsveden Deveaux, director of LYS förlag, a publishing house in Stockholm that focuses on works related to the process of moving to Sweden, said, as reported by The New York Times:

In some cultures, food is very important. In Swedish culture, it’s very important to respect others’ privacy and their rights to take their own decisions and do things the way they prefer.

While Sweden is currently bearing the brunt of the internet’s wrath, this custom is not exclusive to the country. People in Finland, the Netherlands, and other parts of Northern Europe are saying online that they also recognise the tradition.

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