Finland to criminalise Holocaust denial

https://yle.fi/a/74-20162044?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR5dO3-j_bSxw1GtrQw05zvMLvDfpOC5T4iAR4VUC9rp1465AJ6EPzHHf0zb7w_aem_V97JAxscM86YDOf5PFkvUQ

by Perkeleen_Kaljami

30 comments

  5. Some comments seem to confuse freedom of speech and freedom of consequence, I think in Finland they probably were thinking a lot about it and as it came to such a decision it is not bad in my opinion. Although my perspective as a German might be a bit different on this topic, I guess.

  6. Excellent news! Now let’s make politicians and public figures accountable for des-informing and miss-informing.

  9. It’s just dumb. Anyone denying the holocaust is an idiot. Just like anyone denying other proven genocides are idiots. There’s nothing special about this genocide compared to others. There’s no reason for a special treatment for this specific case.

    What nazis did should never be forgotten, but others have done the same. No special treatment to other criminals.

  10. For context: the current government was embroiled in several scandals over the Finns’ Party’s far right connections during the summer of 2023. Their [minister of economy had to resign](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66066910) and the leader of the party [was caught writing hateful content online](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66166795). The Prime Minister (of a different party, to clarify), held a “rules talk” with the Finns’ Party ministers and [decided, as a gesture of ‘zero tolerance for racism’, to move towards criminalizing Holocaust denial and displaying the swastika](https://yle.fi/a/74-20047962). This was in August 2023.

    After half a year of nothing coming of it, it was reported that the [Justice Minister had intentionally stalled the advancement of the law](https://www.savonsanomat.fi/uutissuomalainen/6717698) (she’s also a member of the Finns Party).

    Now, it’s worth noting that holocaust denial is already covered by the definition of the crime of “inciting against a group of people”, carrying a maximum penalty of two years in prison. This has been the case for ages. It just hasn’t been explicit, and the EU commission has previously criticized this.

    In the autumn of 2024, our government, preparing this new law specifically criminalizing the holocaust, [proposed *lowering* the maximum sentence from what it was under the other criminal code](https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/hs-hallitus-aikoo-lieventaa-rangaistuksia-holokaustin-kiistamisesta/9003814).

    Now it finally seems to be coming to fruition. But it’s worth keeping in mind that the right-wing Finns Party in the government dragged their feet every single step of the way to this point.

  12. Good, and i fucking can’t stand the annoying ass seppos that crawl their way into these comment sections talking about “BuT fReDoOm Of sPeEcH!!!!!!11!!!1!”

    Europe has suffered from the hands of facism worse than anywhere else. I’m so sick of this idea of needing to be tolerant for the non-tolerant. Nazis and the holocaust are bad! This is a fact! Its evil, any “buuut” in my eyes makes you a fucking Nazi.

    This shit never needs to be forgotten. This isn’t some amorphous thing that may lead into a communist takeover where you cant speak your mind. This is making sure this shit never happens again, and if you disagree, then fuck you.

  13. Queue the “critical thinkers” who will enter the chat and comment that this isn’t democratic when the exact thing tearing down western democracies right now among many other things are holocaust deniers.

    Yes, you can get charged when your plan is to democratically tear down the democracy. That is how democracy works. A voice that advocates for the removal of democracy and free speech is in fact not allowed.

  15. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has added to its curriculum that Trump won the 2020 election.

  16. The government should not be in the business of putting handcuffs on you based on speech that isn’t an imminent and credible threat to life.

  17. I don’t think criminalizing Holocaust denial in Finland is a good idea. Even though denying the Holocaust is clearly wrong and offensive, making it illegal could threaten freedom of speech. People should be allowed to express their views, even if they’re ignorant or hateful, because once you start banning opinions, it’s hard to know where to stop. It also plays into the hands of neo-Nazis and extremists they already argue that if you mention Jews or the Holocaust in a certain way, you get criminalized, but you can still be racist, sexist, or homophobic without facing the same legal consequences. That kind of double standard just gives them more fuel to spread their ideas. It’s better to educate people and let them make there own opinions

  18. Meanwhile in Italy: people people reported for singing “Bella Ciao” near Bergamo and a baker identified by the police because she hung an anti-fascist banner outside her bakery.

  21. >The government is proposing to add a provision to the criminal code to outlaw Holocaust denial and other serious international crimes.

    >Suggesting that the Holocaust did not happen will become a punishable offence, with the penalty ranging from a fine to two years’ imprisonment.

    >The government submitted the legislative proposal to Parliament on Thursday, with the law expected to come into force this autumn.

    >The Finnish government proposal is based on the EU’s framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia.

  23. Would be good ti criminalize also Palestinian genocide denial.

  25. This is just policing speech.

    Free societies don’t police speech.

  26. I can see banning the government from denying the holocaust. An individual should have freedom of speech, even if they use it to say heinous shit. The individual should be venerable to civil lawsuits from affected parties as well.

    A smart lawmaker can use banned speech to criminalize unexpected topics in cases like these.

    It’s like the death penalty. Everyone should be against it, not because killing an evil person is wrong but because giveing the government the power to execute a citizen is foolish.

  27. Okay a question. What about those the “simply do not care” are they going to put them in a time out?

  28. Are there any other events in history that are illegal to question?

  29. If it really happened to the extent it’s taught, then why criminalize the denial of it? Hmm…

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