A Nation That Preaches Press Freedom Must Now Practice It
FINNRIGHT Campaign Dispatch | Helsinki, May 2026
URGENT CAMPAIGN ACTION Finland ranks 19th out of 30 countries in supporting global media freedom. Journalists are arriving from war zones and authoritarian states and Finland is turning its back on them.
FinnRight is demanding that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo act now.
The Journalist Who Made It to Helsinki But Could Not Work
Picture this. A journalist flees Moscow in the middle of the night. She has spent years documenting state corruption, publishing stories that powerful people wanted buried. She receives a threat she cannot ignore. She leaves everything behind her home, her colleagues, her language and makes it to Helsinki.
She is safe. But she is silent.
There is no fast-track visa system that recognised the urgency of her situation. There is no clear pathway for her to continue her journalism in Finland. Her professional credentials mean little without Finnish language skills. The stories she could be telling stories the world needs to hear remain untold.
She is not alone. And her silence is not an accident. It is the result of policy failure.
This is the reality that Finn Stands for Rights FinnRight is confronting head-on in 2026. And it is the reality that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and his government can no longer afford to ignore.
A Nation Built on Press Freedom Falling Short
Finland has long been celebrated as one of the world’s great defenders of freedom of the press. The country adopted the world’s first law prohibiting censorship in 1766 — a fact that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has cited with admiration. For years, Finland ranked among the very top nations in the World Press Freedom Index.
However, the 2026 World Press Freedom Index tells a more uncomfortable story. Finland has dropped to sixth place falling from fifth, where it had held steady for four consecutive years. Meanwhile, Norway has topped the index for the sixth consecutive year, with Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark, and Sweden all ranking ahead of Finland.
This is not simply a number on a table. It is a signal. And the signal is this: Finland is losing its moral high ground on press freedom and the gap between its reputation and its reality is widening.
Furthermore, a 2025 International Media Freedom Support Index comparing 30 countries on how actively they support media freedom in foreign policy ranked Finland 19th. Lithuania placed first.\
Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia all performed significantly better. These are Finland’s own neighbours — countries that have understood what Finland has not yet acted upon: that defending press freedom abroad is not optional for a democracy. It is essential.
The Study Finland Cannot Ignore
Earlier this year, a landmark study commissioned by eight Finnish organisations including the Finnish branch of Reporters Without Borders, the International Press Institute, the Union of Journalists in Finland, and PEN International Finland — delivered a verdict that should have made headlines across the country.
It did not receive the response it deserved. But FinnRight is making sure it does now.
The study, based on 48 interviews including 22 with journalists who had fled to Finland from Russia, Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan found systematic, structural failures in how Finland treats the very people it claims to protect. Its conclusion was direct and unsparing:
“Finland’s indifference contributes to silencing journalists who have sought refuge here.”
That is not the language of mild concern. That is an indictment. And it demands a response.
The Three Failures Finland Must Fix
Failure One: No Emergency Visa System for Journalists at Risk
When a journalist in Kabul, Baghdad, or Mogadishu receives a death threat, they do not have weeks to navigate bureaucratic visa procedures. They have hours. Sometimes less.
Finland currently has no rapid-response emergency visa system for journalists facing immediate danger. This means that by the time a threatened journalist navigates Finland’s standard immigration processes, the window for safe escape may already have closed for them and for their families.
This is not a minor administrative gap. It is a life-or-death policy failure.
The Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) of which Finland is currently serving as co-chair alongside the United Kingdom has explicitly stated that journalists reporting in conflict zones must be protected and that determined action is needed to end impunity in crimes against journalists. Finland cannot co-chair a global coalition for journalist protection while failing to provide emergency protection at home.
Failure Two: No Pathway to Professional Continuity
Reaching safety is only the beginning. For a journalist, the ability to continue working is inseparable from their identity, their purpose, and their safety. Silenced journalists are vulnerable journalists.
Yet the study found that exiled journalists in Finland face enormous barriers to employment — most critically, the requirement for Finnish language proficiency in a professional media landscape that has few pathways for foreign-language journalism.
The authors recommended improving access to employment and strengthening support for community media outlets that could allow exiled journalists to work alongside others from similar linguistic and cultural backgrounds, continuing to serve diaspora communities and international audiences alike.
Finland has the infrastructure to make this happen. What it lacks, so far, is the political will.
Failure Three: A Legal Climate of Uncertainty
Even journalists who are Finnish citizens or long-term residents are facing a deteriorating legal environment. The 2023 conviction of two reporters on charges of revealing state secrets sent a chilling signal through the profession. A subsequent court ruling imposing taxes on journalists for legal defence provided by their employers has further deterred reporters from covering national security issues precisely the area where public interest journalism matters most.
SLAPP lawsuits Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation are being used to intimidate journalists, and Finland’s legal system has yet to respond with adequate protective legislation. Female journalists face disproportionate levels of online harassment and intimidation. Freelance journalists are particularly exposed, with limited institutional protection.
These are not isolated incidents. They form a pattern. And patterns, left unaddressed, become norms.
What FinnRight Is Demanding A Step-by-Step Plan for Action
FinnRight is not simply raising concerns. It is presenting Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and his government with a clear, actionable set of demands. Here is what must happen — and what every person reading this can help make happen:
Establish an Emergency Visa System for Journalists at Risk
Finland must create a fast-track visa pathway specifically for journalists facing credible, immediate threats to their safety. This system must include provisions for family members and must be operable within 72 hours of application. The Media Freedom Coalition framework provides a ready-made blueprint. Finland must implement it domestically without further delay.
Create a National Programme for Exiled Journalist Integration
The government must fund and establish a structured integration programme for exiled journalists one that includes language support, professional reaccreditation, access to community media platforms, and mentorship from Finnish media organisations. Countries like Latvia and Lithuania have already demonstrated that this is achievable. Finland must follow their lead.
: Introduce Comprehensive Anti-SLAPP Legislation
Finland must pass anti-SLAPP legislation to protect journalists from intimidatory legal actions. The European Parliament has already adopted such measures at the EU level. Finland must transpose and strengthen these protections in national law without further delay.
Strengthen Online Safety Protections for Journalists
The government must develop a national strategy for journalist online safety — with particular attention to the disproportionate targeting of female journalists. This must include coordination with social media platforms, law enforcement training, and dedicated legal support services.
Elevate Finland’s International Media Freedom Ranking
Finland must significantly increase its active engagement in international media freedom advocacy using its co-chairmanship of the Media Freedom Coalition not merely as a ceremonial position but as a platform for concrete, measurable action. A country ranked 19th out of 30 in international media freedom support has no business co-chairing a global coalition without urgent domestic reform.
The Moral Thread That Connects Everything
There is a thread that connects the grandmothers of Norway filing criminal complaints for genocide complicity, the aid workers seized in international waters, and the journalists silenced in Helsinki apartments.
That thread is impunity. The belief — held by governments, investors, and institutions — that looking away carries no cost.
FinnRight exists to make looking away costly. To ensure that the gap between Finland’s values and Finland’s actions does not quietly become permanent.
As Finnish Minister Elina Valtonen and UK Minister Chris Elmore wrote in their joint statement as co-chairs of the Media Freedom Coalition on World Press Freedom Day 2026:
“In addition to escalating physical threats, journalists increasingly face online harassment, which affects women journalists in particular. Journalists reporting in conflict zones must be protected, and determined action is needed to end impunity in crimes against journalists.”
Those words were written for the world. They must also be applied at home.
What You Can Do Right Now
The power of a campaign is not in the organisation that launches it. It is in the people who carry it forward. Here is how you can act today:
| Action | Link |
|---|---|
| Write to Prime Minister Orpo | valtioneuvosto.fi |
| Support the Union of Journalists | journalistiliitto.fi |
| Read the full exiled journalist study | vikes.fi |
| Read the MFC World Press Freedom Statement | mediafreedomcoalition.org |
| Check Finland’s global media freedom ranking | fpc.org.uk |
| Support FinnRight’s Campaign | finnright.com |
A Closing That Must Not Be Comfortable
Somewhere in Helsinki tonight, a journalist who fled a country that wanted her silent is sitting in an apartment, unable to work, unable to publish, unable to do the one thing she risked everything to keep doing.
Finland gave her safety. That matters. But safety without purpose is its own kind of silence.
FinnRight is asking Prime Minister Orpo and his government to understand the difference between sheltering a journalist and truly protecting one. Between ranking sixth in press freedom and earning that ranking every single day through policy, investment, and moral courage.
Finland has been one of the world’s great champions of press freedom.
It is time to act like it again.
Read how FinnRight is holding Finnish and Nordic governments accountable for their human rights & women Right and press freedom commitments at home and abroad.
