11mo ago

Finland must crack down on hate speech, says presidential hopeful

www.theguardian.com Finland must crack down on hate speech, says presidential hopeful

Exclusive: Pekka Haavisto says being ‘united against all external threats’ is key to security amid tension with Russia

“If we want to keep the country united against all external threats, including Russian threats, it is very important that we can handle these types of topics nationally because otherwise these are misused against us and all kinds of provocations can appear. It’s important that we grow in tolerance as Finns,” Pekka Haavisto says.

The election of the next Finnish president, taking place against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical drama on the country’s border with Russia, is seen as crucial to Finland’s future direction. The head of state and commander-in-chief of the army is responsible for foreign policy, in cooperation with the government, and represents Finland at Nato summits, as well as in meetings with international leaders.

7 comments

Honestly, the more I read about the current state of the world, the more I believe “Free Speech” to be somewhat overrated. This is probably the correct course of action, at least for the beginning.
- There are different conceptions of free speech, and an absolutist approach simply doesnt work. It gets abused by bad faith actors. Contrary to shouting idiots on the internet, you can be for free speech and think hate speech should be punishable by law.
  I think especially americans should learn from the history of other countries and their approach to that topic.
- Seems authoritarian regimes efforts to undermine democratic societies are working out quite well.
  
  @gapbetweenus
  It didn't work in Taiwan as we can see, just to name a recent example.
  Disinformation campaigns are by no means bound to win, but we need to be careful. We need more education and awareness in yhat respect, because if and when you are unaware or think you're immune to fake narratives, you're lost.
  [Edit typo.]
- I worry about that because while yes it would be great to ban hate speech, I fear that without free speech the vulnerable will be those most curtailed. In my country it’s already happening as we experience book banning

This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Nordic country, which is governed by a coalition including the far-right Finns party, needs to “grow in tolerance”, said Pekka Haavisto, a former foreign minister who would become Finland’s first green and first out gay president if he is elected.
In addition to being a pressing social issue, reducing the volume of hate speech aimed at making people of colour and others feel “scared of expressing their opinions” was key to national security, he added, saying external actors might seek to exploit domestic divisions.
The election of the next Finnish president, taking place against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical drama on the country’s border with Russia, is seen as crucial to Finland’s future direction.
Tensions have heightened in recent months, with Finland temporarily shutting its eastern border – which remains closed until at least 11 February – and accusing Russia of using asylum seekers in a “hybrid operation”.
But he has called for a rise in refugee quotas for women and girls from Afghanistan and Iran, and criticised those who use Russia’s actions on the border to support rhetoric against asylum seekers.
Last year, Finnish politics took a dramatic shift to the right when the former prime minister, the Social Democrat Sanna Marin, was ousted in a parliamentary election and replaced by a coalition including the far-right Finns party and led by the conservative Petteri Orpo.
The original article contains 1,008 words, the summary contains 227 words. Saved 77%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

7 comments