Cringe patriotism
Surprise! it’s full of Nazis.
Ilta-Sanomat carries material from a new book that suggests Russia used a shooting in Imatra to advance its propaganda goals.
The book is titled Valehtelua, vakoilua ja valtiollista vaikuttamista (Lies, espionage and state-backed influencing) and written by Jouni Mölsä and Markku Mantila.
Mölsä served as head of communications for President Sauli Niinistö, so had a front row seat in watching this unfold.
The 2016 shooting saw three women shot by a man in the eastern Finland town, not far from the Russian border.
Soon afterwards trolley accounts on social media began posting false claims that the women had been Russian and the perpetrator had worked for Finland’s Defence Forces.
Those false claims had to be debunked by Finnish officials, but were likely aimed at Russians inside and outside the country.
The authors ask whether the Imatra operation was part of attempts to persuade Russians that they were under attack outside Russia, offering them a reason to assist Russians outside the country with money and weapons.
The very hard right, and enthusiastic supporter of murdering Muslims, EU Commission president is perfectly fine with quotas for women in the Commision: male and female nominees were required. She therefore should consider diversity quotas under other criteria.
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested in Paris on Aug. 24 on preliminary charges of allegedly enabling criminal activity on his platform. Was Durov’s arrest a political decision?
There was no political decision behind this arrest, only the action of our justice system in response to violations of the law it had observed. Without safeguards, some platforms have contributed to the rise of intolerance and hatred. It is also a playground for those who work against democracies. Under the guise of protecting freedom of expression, complete lawless zones have flourished. For us, as governments, this is unacceptable.
Digital players have an obligation to cooperate in the fight against all illegal online activities, and our justice system is empowered to act in cases of violation. This is what happened when the founder of Telegram was detained by the French judiciary for refusing to cooperate.
Justice will take its course without interference, but I note that its founder announced that he had updated the platform’s terms of service and privacy policy, with the goal of ensuring that basic public order rules are respected on the platform. He notably announced that he’s ready to cooperate with authorities in case of illegal activity on the platform, which is a crucial step forward. With every revolution, there is a period of adjustment. This episode has shown us that there is no inevitability when it comes to major digital players and that citizens and their governments are capable of setting rules and enforcing them.
