Resett.no



The far right's command center.

Resett.no, or simply Resett (which translates to English “Reset”), is like something between a Norwegian version of Quillette and Breitbart, initially positioning itself as a platform for "uncensored news" and intelligent free expression but in the end simply being a slicker version of the Islamophobic Document.no, sometimes cheerleading for Fremskrittspartiet; other times bemoaning the horrors of reasonable representation of women and minorities in media; still other times indulging in climate crisis denialism; and quite often Just asking questions about immigration and Islam.

When it was founded in 2017, editor (and Putin and Assad apologist) Helge Lurås swore the publication "would not become the Norwegian Breitbart." Of course, it did. Perhaps this was predictable given that Lurås had shared a stage with Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner, husband of American "white activist" Brittany Sellner.

Like Breitbart, in spring 2019, Resett faced a pressure campaign for advertisers to boycott the site, leading to a block by Google Ads, a temporary withdrawal from the Vipps payment program, and a not-at-all Trump-like response from Resett: telling readers to "boycott those who boycott" Resett, selling overpriced "build walls" T-shirts and "Make Norway Great Again" red baseball caps, and begging for money. But that's not because it's a "millionaire-financed racist gutter industry."

The site's resemblance to the Trumposphere does not end there. Resett has a solid record of inaccuracy, consistently having their claims debunked by the International Fact-Checking Network-affiliated Faktisk.no. Furthermore, one never has to scroll past more than three comments before one will find some version of "lock her up" (for liberal or centrist women), the potential antisemitic dogwhistle "no more wars for Israel," accusations of mainstream media bias, conspiracy-peddling, calls for deportations of legal residents or citizens, or suggestions that Norway's "troubles" originate from women's right to vote.

Incidents

 * Shortly after Resett was founded in 2017, the editor and management decided to protest the profile they had received in Dagens Næringsliv, the premier business newspaper in Norway, to the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission.
 * The publication broke Norwegian Press Association ethical codes when Resett offered a source 400,000 NOK (about $47,000 USD or €41,000) for details of an alleged sex scandal involving social-liberal party Venstre's leader, Trine Skei Grande.
 * In 2019, a satirical show on the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation translated extracts of Breivik's manifesto from the original to  and posted them on Resett. Not only did moderators permit the extracts to appear: the entries elicited many likes and much positive feedback.
 * In June 2019, the unprovoked and hastily planned murder of two young tourist women (one each from Norway and Denmark) in Morocco by Islamists claiming loyalty to DAESH was recorded by one of the terrorists on his phone. Apparently even the "Islamic state" has standards, and disavowed any connection to the group and incident. Nevertheless, the clip circulated in far-right circles as a "cautionary tale" against allowing Muslims into Europe. Resett's editors created a tasteless Islamophobic montage using screen captures of the women's gruesome deaths, despite the pleading of Prime Minister Erna Solberg of the Høyre (Right) Party that the film not be spread or shown.
 * In July 2019, Resett reported it had a 2.5 million NOK deficit (approximately $293,000 USD or €260,000) for 2018. Lurås blamed the above-mentioned advertiser boycott and begged for donations, despite the fact that the site's owners include at least two wealthy backers.
 * In October 2019, after online grocery company Kolonial pulled advertising from Resett's partner publication Xstra.no, a representative of Resett allegedly called an executive at the grocer and asked if they had a brain "and why weren't they using it." Resett opinion columnist Maria Zähler also urged readers to boycott the food chain.

Typical opinion pieces

 * "We should never have let Islam into Norway."
 * "LGBTQ Pride parades are boring black/white thinking because they imply queer people are more interesting than straight people."
 * "Trump is winning the battle against the media."
 * "Why is not a part of Russia?"
 * "Most people are conservatives: They just don't know it yet"
 * "The EU is like a modern version of the Holy Roman Empire"