During the Norwegian 2025 election campaign, NORDIS coordinator Faktisk collaborated with CheckFirst, using the CrossOver network to monitor election-related topics on YouTube and TikTok. The monitoring targeted the outputs of YouTube and TikTok’s search and recommendation algorithms.
Methodology
The project employed the CrossOver monitoring infrastructure to systematically observe algorithmic content recommendations across major online platforms in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. A network of monitoring devices was deployed at residential locations in each country, where they simulated the behavior of unlogged, first-time users. These virtual users periodically accessed selected platforms (including search engines, social networks, and video-sharing services) and collected data on recommended content, trending topics, and search predictions based on a curated list of country-specific keywords developed jointly with NORDIS partners.
Collected data enabled comparative, cross-national analysis. Local journalists and academic partners were trained in device operation and, critically, in data analysis and interpretation, ensuring that findings were contextualized within national media and political environments.
The energy debate: Polarizing sources on YouTube
Rising energy prices and energy policy had shaped Norwegian political debate for a significant period ahead of the September elections. Heated disagreements over energy exports and various measures designed to lower costs for consumers played a major role in the run-up to the election.
However, engagement on YouTube appears to have been muted, even if the YouTube search algorithm appears to have favored a polarizing source. The most viewed Norwegian-language video about the «energy crisis» is an interview with the former politician Kjell Erik Eilertsen, well known for radical views about energy policy and for climate change denialism. We note that this finding may have resulted from the use of the keyword «energy crisis», which may tend to surface more polarizing content compared to keywords such as «energy policy».
A similar tendency is visible when using the keyword “vindkraft” (wind power). Here, the most engaging Norwegian channels are the official channel of the Red Party, the channel of the anti-wind power activist group Motvind, and the channel of political influencer Sindre Wiig Nordby, who has built part of his online presence on criticism of Norwegian energy policies. The same applies to TikTok, where an interview with Motvind spokesperson Gaute Grøtta Grav was among the most frequently appearing videos in searches.
EU debate gets mixed sources on TikTok, YouTube
The European Union is a highly polarizing topic in Norwegian politics, and was expected to generate significant debate during the election campaign. In fact, the topic is sufficiently polarizing that a 2022 report from the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment discussed the possibility that foreign powers could use the debate as a vector in an influence operation.
Our investigation did not reveal any such attempts, although some slant was observable in YouTube’s recommendations. For example, for keywords like “EU” and “EØS-avtalen” (the EEC agreement), the top recommended channels are iNyheter, a right-wing news site, and Lilletinget, a far-left political commentary/memes channel that broadly supports the radical left-wing Red Party. This may be a consequence of the fact that taking clear positions in a polarized debate can increase engagement and watch time. If those properties are rewarded by the algorithm, it is to be expected that channels like Lilletinget will be recommended more frequently than more balanced sources.
The podcast “Snakk med Silje”, which is notable for its consistent platforming of conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine ideas, also had one of the most watched videos discovered – an interview with a candidate from the far-right party Konservativt about the implications of the EEC agreement for Norway. Apart from that, however, most of the sources associated with Interestingly, the YouTube recommendation algorithm tends to recommend channels to the right or left of center.
However, this tendency is balanced by recommendations of expert sources like NUPI (the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs). NUPI also published the most-watched video of those identified by the CrossOver platform as connected to the keyword “EØS-avtalen”; though it is worth noting that the video was published in 2020.
Similar tendencies are manifest on TikTok, where the CrossOver system detects videos from political influencer Wiig Nordby and the youth division of the Red Party associated with the keyword “EØS”. However, unlike YouTube, few expert sources are visible. This may, however, be an effect of research institutions’ slow adoption of TikTok as a communications channel.
A conspiracy theory surfaces on TikTok
Exploring the keyword “EØS-avtalen” reveals a fairly popular post that expresses sympathy with a known (and debunked) conspiracy theory about Norway’s entry into the EEC, which alleges that the decision was made in violation of the Norwegian Constitution. However, unlike the videos surfaced by the keyword “EØS”, this conspiratorial video only has around 30 000 views, while videos like the one published by Wiig Nordby has more than 500 000.
NORDIS Crossover in context
The Norwegian election monitoring efforts with CrossOver network completed the NORDIS Crossover pilot that started during the 2024 European elections. Lessons learned will be discussed within the NORDIS consortium to evaluate the next steps on how to best monitor the social media reshaping political debate from the point of view of fact-based public debate.