Civic space scan of Finland

Description

Foreword Acknowledgements Executive summary 1 Introduction to civic space in Finland Finland’s strategic vision for civic space Focus on dialogue and mutual understanding Societal changes and pressures on civic space Notes References 2 The OECD approach to civic space Civic space for open government Methodology for the Civic Space Scan of Finland Notes References 3 Civic freedoms and rights in Finland Introduction Civic freedoms and rights: a review of key legal frameworks Freedom of expression Scope Exceptions and exemptions a. Libel and defamation b. Hate speech and defamation Freedom of assembly and association Scope Exceptions and exemptions Recent amendments Discrimination Scope Key role of oversight mechanisms Ombudsman offices Legal aid Empowering oversight mechanisms and improving services Challenges to civic space that are specific to civic freedoms and recommendations Tackling discrimination, racism and intolerance Tackling hate crime as an obstacle to civic space Tackling hate speech as an obstacle to civic space Expanding prosecutions and the legal framework The widening of prosecutorial powers: Ensuring the Criminal Code is in line with international law: Public funding for groups espousing discriminatory behaviour Tackling violence against women as an obstacle to civic space Using civic education and literacy to counter discrimination Ensuring respect for freedom of assembly Notes References 4 Media freedoms and digital rights in Finland Legal frameworks for media freedoms and digital rights in Finland Press freedom Scope Exceptions and exemptions Access to information Scope Exceptions and exemptions Recent amendments Right to privacy and data protection Scope Recent amendments Open Internet Scope Exceptions and exemptions Recent amendments Impact of media freedoms and digital rights on civic space Combating pressures on press freedom Political, institutional and economic interference Freelancer concerns Violence at protests Hate speech and harassment of journalists Criminalisation of defamation Media pluralism and the role of the public broadcaster Access to information Emerging technology, artificial intelligence, and data and privacy concerns Finland’s levels of digital government and digitalisation policies Addressing data collection and privacy concerns Achieving Finland’s vision for artificial intelligence Notes References 5 The enabling environment for civil society organisations in Finland Legal frameworks for the CSO-enabling environment Registration of civil society organisations Associations Act Scope Recent amendments Funding of civil society organisations Act on Discretionary Government Transfers Scope Lotteries Act Scope Recent amendments Money Collection Act Scope The evolving role of civil society organisations in Finnish society The strong foundation for civil society in Finland The rise of the fourth sector Other challenges in the operating environment for civil society organisations Enhancing knowledge and skills among public officials Increasing inclusion and representation of all civil society organisations Funding and autonomy of civil society organisations The Veikkaus system and funding for civil society Background and distribution of revenues Debate on connections between gambling and public funding Improving regulation and combatting potential conflicts of interest Setting a strategic direction and the need for a sustainable model Funding outside of the Veikkaus system General challenges for public funding Implementing a transparent and centralised cross-ministry approach Facilitating internal mobility for officials overseeing public funding of civil society organisations Current system is short term and vulnerable to external shocks Lack of vetting of organisations Committing to systematic evaluations of public funding Reducing heavy bureaucracy for funding and restrictions on fundraising Combating the narrowing autonomy of CSOs Funding and social innovations at the local level Commitment to civic space in Finnish development co-operation Finland’s approach to development co-operation Civil society funding within development co-operation Challenges Improving aid transparency and performance data Regular evaluations and impact assessment of development co-operation to CSOs Increasing human and financial resources in the CSO unit of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Notes References 6 Civic participation in Finland Introduction Review of key legal frameworks Policy and political environment Participation in policy making in practice Legislative drafting and consultation guidance Citizens’ initiatives in practice Consultation via committees, advisory boards, working groups and other means Municipal-level participation practices Innovation and experimentation to promote and strengthen participation Challenges to participation practices and recommendations Moving towards a consistent, co-ordinated, and transparent approach to consultation and engagement with civil society actors Ensuring better feedback and documentation of decision making Promoting cross-learning opportunities and impact evaluations of consultation and engagement methods Ensuring quality and accessibility of (digital) participation methods Moving beyond consultation and engagement with the usual suspects to engaging the general public Adopting a holistic approach to engaging Finnish citizens as partners in decision making Notes References 7 Recommendations Chapter 3: Civic freedoms and rights Strengthening independent oversight mechanisms to continue to protect civic freedoms Adopting a cross-government strategy/action plan to counter hate speech, as a widely recognised threat to freedom of speech and civic space Ensuring that the legal framework on hate speech is fit-for-purpose Ensuring the necessary political will to counter hate crime and build trust between the police and victims Gathering and using data on hate crime more visibly and strategically Engaging in preventive work with identified or potential spreaders of hate speech Ensuring coherence of approaches to protection against discrimination across national legal frameworks Reducing discrimination and violence against women Using civic education and literacy to counter discrimination Protecting the rights of the Sámi population Developing mechanisms to increase the uniformity of practice for tackling social exclusion in the context of COVID-19 Protecting the right of peaceful assembly Chapter 4: Media freedoms and digital rights Safeguarding freedom of the press from political, institutional and economic interference Protecting and supporting freelance journalists Supporting journalists facing hate speech and harassment and reduce instances of violence Protecting journalists at demonstrations and protests Protecting freedom of expression by reviewing the legal framework on defamation Safeguarding media pluralism and the role of the public broadcaster Improving the implementation of access to information laws Combatting the digital divide and protecting data privacy Making the Government of Finland a world leader in artificial intelligence Chapter 5: The enabling environment for civil society organisations Supporting new forms of civil society in Finland Enhancing knowledge of the role of civil society organisations among public officials Increasing inclusion and representation of civil society organisations in government Improving the governance of public funding through the Veikkaus system Introducing a more strategic direction for Veikkaus funding Enhancing the transparency of Veikkaus funding Adopting a resilient and cross-cutting approach to all public funding of CSOs Facilitating internal mobility for officials overseeing public funding of CSOs Ensuring policy coherence in funding of CSOs Continuing to increase the accessibility of public funding and fundraising for all civil society organisations Safeguarding the autonomy of civil society organisations receiving public funding Encouraging innovative forms of public funding Maintaining Finland’s long-standing commitment to civic space through development co-operation Chapter 6: Civic participation Moving towards a more consistent, co-ordinated and transparent approach to consultation and engagement with civil society actors Promoting cross-learning opportunities and impact evaluations of consultation and engagement methods Ensuring better feedback on and documentation of decision making Ensuring quality and accessibility of (digital) participation methods Moving beyond consultations and engagement with the usual suspects to engaging members of the general public Adopting a holistic approach to engaging Finnish citizens as partners in decision making Annex A. List of interviewees and substantive inputs