The Norwegian Plagiarism Scandal

A student was accused of plagiarism, so the Minister of Higher Education took her all the way to the supreme court. Then the Minister of Higher Education was found to have plagiarized her dissertation.

#norway #plagiarism
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- - Bibliography:

News articles:
- K. Aase, “Student vant fuskesak i lagmannsretten”,
VG.no, Dec. 30th, 2023.
- I. Ali, et. al. “Master­oppgaven til helse­minister Kjerkol: Flere tekst­likheter”,
VG.no, Jan. 21st, 2024.
- T. Berg, et. al., “Skal ha møte om Kjerkols oppgave – disse punktene kan bli viktige”,
VG.no, Jan. 22nd, 2024.
- S. Bugge, “DN og NRK: Nye tekstlikheter i Kjerkols masteroppgave”,
VG.no, Jan. 23rd, 2024.
- A. Børringbo, et. al. “Sandra Borch går av som statsråd: - Feilen, den er min”,
NRK.no, Updated Jan. 26th, 2024.
- I.B Farestvedt, et. al., “Åtte nye tilfeller av tekstlikhet i Kjerkols masteroppgave”,
VG.no, Jan. 23rd, 2024.
- E.A Gulbrandsen, “Forsvarte Kjerkol - har snudd: – Kan være forskningsjuks”,
VG.no, Jan. 31st, 2024.
- B. Myklebust & H. Nyhus, “Meir bråk om medlemsjukset: – Ikkje sant at alle gjorde det”,
NRK.no, Updated Feb. 6th, 2024.
- M.G Svedal, “Studentane i Bergen og Oslo boikottar Borten Moe”,
NRK.no, Updated Nov. 28th, 2022

Websites:

Laws:

Twitter Posts:
- @OsloStudenten, “Akademisk integritet
integritet under lupen: Gransking av Sandra
Borchs akademiske fortid”,
X.com, Jan, 18th, 2024
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[FreddaYT]

One day after releasing this video, the Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol was dismissed by the Prime Minister. Her university found that she had cheated with intent, and plagiarized her Master's dissertation. She will continue as a top-level Labour Party politician. She insists she was treated "just as any student" but had 5 meetings with university leadership accompanied by a political consultant helping her manage the scandal, which is something I do not think regular students have access to.


Also, the finance crimes investigation into Ola Borten Moe was also dropped:

[Linkman]

If a student is "self plagiarizing" from an exam that wasn't accepted because they failed the first one, I don't see the problem. The plagiarized work doesn't exist. Its not the same as plagiarizing from from a published work.

[atillanandorfuri]

I yearn to live in a society with scandals like this, instead of ones like the wholesale theft of EU subsidies or pardoning the right hand of a child predator.

[hqwefg]

The biggest surprise in this whole thing is that there were actual consequences and investigations for illegal shenanigans instead of just being handwaved and shoved under the rug.

The second biggest surprise was hearing the Norwegian names spoken and making me very thankful Norwegians aren't real and are only a cover story for Santa's workshop.

[nuclease]

As a french, having your politicians stepping down for this is mindboggling. Here they would just shrug it off and refuse to talk about it. Nothing would happend and they would hold they position as usual.

[petebateman]

I love the fact that in the UK we have a government that embezzled billions of pounds and our press is desperately trying to avoid talking about it and ministers that break the law with impunity, but in Norway a minister copying her homework is scandal! Keep doing what you're doing Norway, we love you, you give us hope.

[SnackFoodCentral]

"self-plagiarism" doesn't even properly apply to the initial situation. This is an exam, not a public study or in any way something that other people would use as reference material. This goes entirely against the spirit of the concept and just stamps it on a situation in a completely irrelevant way.

[codemonster]

"People talk a lot about how strong the social safety net is that's provided to every Norwegian citizen. But people talk less about the far stronger safety net provided to the average politician"
That's so true. The safety net provided to an average politician might as well be a trampoline of sorts : they bounce right back to the top after falling on it, while the net provided to an average joe hurts when you fall on it, and you need to climb back up bearing the shame of having fell.

Those are just the mechanics of power, the closer you are yo it the higher you go after each fall, and after some time you can only fail upwards...

[lzohzzy]

Props to Fredda for immersing himself so deep in the story as to learn and become so fluent in Norwegian it equates to native, change his address to Norway, change his birthplace to a Norwegian hospital and become a son of Norwegian parents.

[randalltilander]

Honestly, speaking as a Canadian, Norweign political scandals seem to be small potatoes Forcing a politician to resign for plagiarism? IN Ontario, we still have a housing minister who allowed a political aide to redraw the boundaries of Toronto's green belt . A dozen friends of the premier would have benefited to the tune of over 8 billion C$. Please let us know if Norway has a scandal on that scale . Until then, we Canadians will continue to see Norway as being well-governed

[bardsolas]

Really want to thank you Fredda for choosing to cover what is for many a obscure topic. I get the risks of talking about Norwegian politics on youtube, but I am so happy you did, and that it's someone as talented as you that will bring our politics to an international audience. Keep it up!

And you really should do a whole deep-dive into the many scandals of FrP, it's the biggest circus in town and highlights the scandal-blindness of the right to such a degree. I mean, I'm glad you mention the Wara scandal, but god, it's so much stranger than what a 15 second blurb can ever convey.

[inopes]

JFC - self-plagiarism is a problem if published in scientific journals, and in any open, scientific work that counts for job evaluation, grants, etc. It is NOT AT ALL a problem during a written EXAM, which is a self-enclosed show of skill. ESPECIALLY if she reiterated and build upon the work that she previously submitted. This is INSANE standard, and anti-educational practice!

[FiskenIsFishy]

Since Ramadan is over I WILL be gooning to this!

[yeskimkim]

As a Norwegian I am appaled by the level of out politicians. Awful behaviour from the people who are supposed to be role models.

[nepoleon]

I always knew Norway was ripping off Sweden by existing smh

[Guns_Blazin]

“Okay, one last video before bed.”

Five hours later: “Hmm yes quite, the infamous Norwegian Plagiarism Scandal.”

[odinlindeberg]

As someone who keeps an eye on American politics and half an eye on whatever the hell is going on in the UK, presenting a plagiarised dissertation as a scandal proving that Norway's still not perfect comes off as kind of comical. If anything I'd say the story with Tor Mikkel Wara comes closest to showing that Norway isn't immune to the nonsense that permeates politics in the media.

[issober]

Your talk at the end is the exact conversation I have had with people all over the world, who have sadly been tricked into thinking the nordics is near perfection and that we have figuered it all out. There is so much "minor" corruption and different treatment between the people and politicans that it is disgusting. Tusen takk for making this video and lets hope for a future where Norways corruption and special treatment of politicians can finally be confronted and removed. La oss kjempe for en bedre fremtid, ikke for oss, men for våre barn!

[fredjohnson]

Finally I'm going to find out what crime the cute blue-clar lady committed. I can't wait.

[ベース-lf]

I wish that was our biggest scandals in Bulgaria :(