Finland

Finland ranked sixth of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index, scoring 86.22 out of 100, compared with fifth place and 87.18 in 2025.

Finland’s press freedom tradition includes the Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance of 1766, adopted when Finland formed part of Sweden. Recognised by UNESCO as the world’s first legislation guaranteeing free communication of information, it established an important foundation for freedom of expression and public access to official information.

Section 12 of Finland’s Constitution protects freedom of expression and access to official documents, subject to restrictions established by law for necessary reasons. Journalists’ source confidentiality also receives legal protection.

Most Finnish media are independent of political parties and politicians. Yle operates under parliamentary supervision, but politicians have no direct authority to appoint or dismiss its journalists, and RSF reports that attempts to influence editorial content are rare and not tolerated.

The Viestikoekeskus convictions became final in Finland. On 1 July 2025 the Helsinki Court of Appeal increased the penalties imposed on the journalists Tuomo Pietiläinen and Laura Halminen over their reporting on military intelligence. Both were convicted of revealing a security secret and of attempting further disclosure through unpublished article drafts. Pietiläinen received a four-month suspended prison sentence and Halminen 80 day-fines.

On 16 December 2025 the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal, leaving the appellate judgment standing. On 30 July 2026 Yle reported that an application involving Sanoma Media Finland and one of the convicted journalists had been lodged with the European Court of Human Rights in April. According to their lawyer, the European court had yet to decide whether to examine the case.

The tax treatment of employer-funded legal defence has changed. RSF has linked the journalists’ convictions, and a separate ruling treating employer-funded legal defence as taxable income, to a chilling effect on national-security reporting.

Since 1 January 2026, however, section 69e of the Income Tax Act allows qualifying legal costs paid or reimbursed by an employer to be tax-free. The conditions include a connection to the employee’s work, an employer interest in paying the costs, and the absence of circumstances making it obvious that the employee should have recognised the conduct as unlawful when it occurred.

National anti-SLAPP protections took effect on 9 May 2026. Act 334/2026 implements the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive through protections for participation in public debate in civil and commercial proceedings with cross-border implications. It provides mechanisms including early dismissal of manifestly unfounded claims, security for legal costs and financial penalties for abusive proceedings. Its scope excludes criminal proceedings and wholly domestic disputes.

Media concentration remains high, with new rules for merger scrutiny. Act 408/2025, dated 27 June 2025 and effective from 8 August 2025, introduced a framework for assessing the effects of qualifying media mergers on pluralism and editorial independence. It assigns that task to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, Traficom, and provides for a national media ownership database and greater transparency of state advertising.

State Media Monitor maps one entry in Finland. It sits in the independent family.

Yle, Yleisradio Oy, retains its classification as Independent State-Managed (ISM). Established in 1926 and celebrating its centenary in 2026, it is a limited liability company 99.98 per cent owned by the Finnish state. Its public-service remit is defined in section 7 of the Act on Yleisradio Oy, Law 1380/1993. Marit af Björkesten became chief executive in October 2025, succeeding Merja Ylä-Anttila.

Parliament elects Yle’s supervisory council. The 21-member Administrative Council supervises fulfilment of the public-service remit, approves strategy and major organisational changes, and appoints and dismisses the Board. The Board appoints the chief executive and responsible editors. Yle’s published Board selection criteria exclude serving members of parliament and government ministers.

A dedicated public tax finances Yle. The state collects the broadcasting tax, and Parliament determines the appropriation through the annual budget process. The Ministry of Finance transfers the approved amount to the State Television and Radio Fund, administered by Traficom, from which funding is paid to Yle.

For individuals aged eighteen and over in mainland Finland, the tax is generally 2.5 per cent of net earned and capital income exceeding EUR 15,150, capped at EUR 160 annually. Separate assessment rules apply to entrepreneurs’ insured income, and Åland operates its own media fee.

Under State Media Monitor’s established treatment of Yle’s financing, this dedicated tax is classified as public funding comparable to a licence fee. It therefore does not engage the state-funded category in the typology. Yle retains its ISM classification, reflecting state management alongside editorial independence.

Yle is prohibited from carrying advertising in its public-service content and from producing sponsored programmes. In 2025 the appropriation supplied 98.4 per cent of total income of EUR 548.2 million, and Yle recorded a profit of EUR 19.3 million. Total income was slightly below the EUR 548.4 million reported for 2024.

An index freeze and higher VAT constrain funding. Following the cross-party parliamentary working group’s September 2024 recommendations, the statutory index adjustment was suspended for 2025 to 2027. The group estimated that annual funding in 2027 would consequently be approximately EUR 47 million below the amount normal indexation would have produced.

Editorial safeguards were strengthened during the reform. Act 412/2025, dated 27 June 2025, amended the Yle Act and entered into force on 8 August 2025. Section 6d establishes professional requirements for responsible editors and protects them against dismissal for exercising their editorial authority, unless continuation in the role would be manifestly unreasonable for the company.

Yle’s Ethical Guidelines for Content and Publishing, effective from 15 August 2025, require independence from political and commercial pressure and place final editorial decisions with responsible editors. Yle also follows the Guidelines for Journalists and participates in the Council for Mass Media’s system of journalistic self-regulation..

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