MFA: Finland to participate in the work of a group defending media freedom

The topics discussed at the conference will include the state of media freedom, ways to safeguard the independence of journalists and other media employees, and the need to strengthen legal rules and political cooperation to defend media freedom.

Finland will participate in the work of a group being set up to promote media freedom.

According to Johanna Sumuvuori, Finland’s areas of expertise in the cooperation include strengthening the principle of public access to official documents, combating disinformation, and building media and information literacy on a wide front. 

With regard to the protection of journalists, Finland emphasises the need to protect and support female and minority media employees. Research shows that as many as two thirds of female journalists experience various forms of harassment or threats. 

In London, State Secretary Sumuvuori will meet Alan Duncan, the Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, and Harriett Baldwin, Minister of State for International Development.

Inquiries: Markku Keinänen, Ambassador, tel. +44 799 046 3050 (ministerial meetings) and Rauno Merisaari, Ambassador for Human Rights and Democracy, tel. +358 40 838 2960 (conference).

The Foreign Ministry’s email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi