Finland sets precedent in sentencing journalists’ harassers
Despite working in a country that routinely tops press freedom rankings, Finnish journalists increasingly face a new threat to press freedom: online harassment. And until recently in the country, harassment campaigns against journalists had largely gone unpunished. The year 2018, however, saw a positive shift, with courts handing down convictions for abusive online attacks and campaigns against journalists. Observers say the decisions set a new precedent in Finland and could be an example for the rest of Europe.
The latest ruling came in October when a Finnish regional court convicted the instigators of an online harassment campaign against Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro of stalking, aggravated defamation and incitement to aggravated defamation following years of sustained attacks on Aro through various channels. Aro is known for her award-winning investigative reports on Russian online trolls.
The ruling was praised by the Finnish journalist community.
“The court judged that systematic harassment of an individual journalist and inciting others to do so can be compared to physical abuse”, Arno Ahosniemi, the editor-in-chief of Finnish business daily Kauppalehti and the chair of the Guild of Finnish Editors, said in an interview with the International Press Institute (IPI).
“The ruling is a clear signal that Finnish society does not allow it”, he added.
The court handed a oneyear suspended sentence for stalking to Johan Bäckman, a Finnish scholar living in Russia who had, according to the court, harassed Aro by repeatedly contacting her and writing social media posts ridiculing her for over 16 months. The court also convicted Bäckman of aggravated defamation and incitement to defamation.
Additionally, the founder and former manager of Finnish “alternative” media sites as well as his management successor were sentenced on aggravated defamation charges, the latter to one year and ten months in prison. The three convicted individuals were ordered to pay over €88,000 in compensations to the journalist. Landmark rulings Ahosniemi stressed that the ruling was an important landmark in safeguarding freedom of expression in Finland. Earlier in 2018, the Guild of Finnish Editors called on lawmakers to review Finland’s anti-stalking laws to better address the continuing harassment of journalists.
“If harassment of journalists becomes more common, journalists will not want to cover certain topics. And that is exactly what these criminals want”, he said.
Jessikka Aro’s lawyer, Martina Kronström, told IPI that she and Aro were satisfied with the sentences, though Kronström pointed out that one shortcoming of the case was that people who took part in the harassment campaign incited by the defendants were not brought to account.
Although persons have been convicted in Europe of harassing journalists by sending them death threats, the masterminds behind organized vilification campaigns have rarely been brought to justice. In this sense, the ruling in Aro’s case could set a new example. Pekkonen is Helsingin Sanomat Foundation Journalism Fellow at IPI