Scientific publications
Books, articles and theses
Links open externally.
Freedom of Speech and the Regulation of Fake News
English
The book provides a comparative constitutional analysis of the relationship between freedom of speech and disinformation. By examining reports which focus on Belgium, Canada, Croatia, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Macau, Romania, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vietnam, this book analyses the constitutional challenges of balancing freedom of speech and falsehood, and the approaches adopted to deal with the spread of disinformation. The chapter on Finland was written by Riku Neuvonen of DECA.
Pollicino, Oreste (ed.). The chapter on Finland is written by Riku Neuvonen of DECA.
8.31.2023
Discursive analysis of intersectional moral exclusions in online discussions on women to be repatriated to Finland from the Al-Hol camp
English
In spring 2019, there was a heated debate in the media concerning the Al-Hol camp in Syria, where a number of women and children were detained. This article explores intersectional dynamics of exclusion in online comments on news items regarding the repatriation of women and children from Al-Hol to Finland. The analytical framework is based on critical discursive psychology combined with an intersectional lens. The analysis distinguished three interpretative repertoires: the repertoire of a foreign threat, the repertoire of neglected maternal obligations, and the repertoire of irrationality. Within these repertoires, three subject positions were also applied to women—the deceitful villain, the bad mother, and brainwashed fools—with two subject positions applied to children—innocent children and future threats. The analysis shows the dialectical nature of positionings through which the Otherness of these women is constructed via the interplay with evaluations of their motherhood and positions applied to other actors, such as Muslim men and Finns. Moreover, the analysis shows how positionings mobilise intersectional categorisations based on gender, age, ethnicity, religion, nationality, and race.
Marja Lönnroth-Olin, Satu Venäläinen, Teemu Pauha & Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti
10.2.2023
The public sphere and contemporary lifeworld: reconstruction in the context of systemic crises
English
For the Habermasian theory of the “public sphere” to make sense in the 2020s, it must be able to address the modern tendency toward global systemic crises. To examine the relevance of the Habermasian public sphere to today’s deeply interconnected digital world, this article provides a selective reading of Habermas’ writings on the public sphere, examining how he developed the concept from its conceptual core (1962) through his Legitimation Crisis (LC; 1973) and The Theory of Communicative Action (TCA; vol. 1 [1981] 1984, vol. 2 [1981] 1987). Working from the perspective of the “differentiated lifeworld,” we show here that the theory’s background assumptions about reality (truth), solidarity (justice), personality (authenticity) are now being exposed and destabilized by current crisis tendencies and imaginaries. Here, we examine three exemplary (and interconnected) global disruptions that expose these assumptions: the climate crisis, the intensification of financial inequality in the Global North, and the rapid push toward datafication. Through our examination of whether the public sphere as Habermas conceived of it can exist in today’s world, we provide a more expansive form of criticism of the public sphere (which is usually critiqued on the narrow grounds of the rational bias of communicative rationality). Here, we underscore the fundamental importance of addressing the complex system-lifeworld dynamics that are today re-conceptualizing and re-contextualizing the “public sphere” in this era of contemporary global crises.
Lewis Friedland & Risto Kunelius
10.2.2023
The return of propaganda: Historical legacies and contemporary conceptualisations
English
The sounding board of worries about propaganda has often been the image or sense of social (and political) change and instability. This was the case during the first decades of twentieth century, when “propaganda” as a concept broke through to public discourse (Glander, 2000). The unpredictable power of the mass press, and the influence of emerging new media like film and radio, raised concern. Around the turn of the century, sociologists had coined a mental image about changing social order ushered in by industrialised modernity and the breaking of traditions. The populations of the Western democracies were considered uprooted from their earlier frames of social order and common sense, their attention and volatile loyalty seemingly up for grabs by manipulative communication. Against the imagination of masses of atomised individuals, the idea about the potential of propaganda made sense. Communication became a key social problem, an overdetermined object of hopes and anxieties:“There are abundant signs of interest in international propaganda since the War of 1914”, is the opening statement in Harold Lasswell’s (1927/1971) Propaganda Technique in World War I–one of the classic studies on the subject.
Göran Bolin & Risto Kunelius
10.2.2023
The Legacy of the Sociology of News Paradigm: Continuities, Changes, and Ironies
English
The sociology of news (SoN) paradigm laid out the foundations for journalism studies, a growing, dynamic, global and multidisciplinary field of inquiry. It is opportune to reassess its validity and influence, especially considering massive transformations in news and journalism, as well as recent trends in academic scholarship. In this paper, we argue that the SoN remains influential, despite major transformations in the journalism industry and the ways publics engage with news in the digital era. The classic SoN tradition built a theoretical and conceptual scaffolding and produced rich empirical studies that remain relevant. However, at a time of niche scholarship and middle-range theorizing, SoN does not hold the paradigmatic status it had in the past. Furthermore, radical changes in the information landscape and contemporary political trends make it necessary to revisit its original arguments and contributions.
Risto Kunelius & Silvio Waisbord
10.2.2023
Between Public and Private: Freedom of Speech and Platform Regulation in Europe
English
The digital disruption of the media and society has changed how citizens participate in public debate and democracy. Today, internet platforms play a significant role in the public sphere. However, their role in the spread of disorders in the public sphere has increased fears about the future of democracy. The main hypothesis of this article is that the regulation of freedom of speech in Europe is fragmented. Therefore, the European Union and individual states are asking social media platforms to monitor their content. A lack of competence in regulating platforms has led to the introduction of various forms of regulation, such as loose co-regulation and the private censorship of content. These new regulations challenge the underlying rationale and justification of the freedom of speech doctrine and principle of the rule of law.
Riku Neuvonen
10.2.2023
Rethinking digital rights through systemic problems of communication
English
Recent debates concerning problems in the digital environment have promoted different conceptualizations of digital rights. However, current problems of digital communication are often discussed separately from earlier debates pertaining to the democratization of the media. This article argues for the re-grounding of digital rights debates to address systemic communication problems.
Outi Puukko
11.21.2023
Productive power in digital constitutionalism: Analyzing civil society actors' definitions of digital rights
English
Recent research on digital constitutionalism highlights a rights-based approach to limiting the exercise of power in the digital communication environment. However, little research has examined multiple and political meanings of digital rights empirically from various actors’ perspectives. This article discusses findings from a discourse-theoretical analysis of 12 semi-structured interviews with civil society actors in the context of transnational digital governance. The analysis demonstrates that the concept of digital rights can be viewed as a “floating signifier” on one hand, partially fixed to human rights. On the other hand, digital rights function as a site of discursive struggles that highlight openness and contestation of norms, rights, and principles in relation to the Internet and other digital technologies. The article suggests that the very definitions of norms, rights, and principles related to the Internet and other digital technologies not only limit but also produce power, providing a novel perspective to digital constitutionalism.
Outi Puukko
11.21.2023
Exclusively Our People: Defining Tribalism through the Slovak Case
English
We define tribalism as a mode of articulation that draws an antagonistic frontier between societal groups. Unlike populism, tribalism does not have a hegemonic character. It articulates groups through a horizontally oriented shared value system; whereas populism is an essential part of a democratic system, tribalism disregards democracy. To conceptualize tribalism as a separate theoretical frame from populism or (ethno)nationalism, we used discourse theoretical analysis to analyze the Facebook pages of four political party leaders in Slovakia (Marian Kotleba, Krisztián Forró, Igor Matovic, and Boris Kollár).
Ilana Hartikainen & Zea Szebeni
11.29.2023
Epistemic Rights in the Era of Digital Disruption
English
This edited volume offers a comprehensive introduction to epistemic rights as a central public policy issue and features analyses of epistemic rights both as a theoretical concept and as empirical cases. The book demonstrates the impact of epistemic inequality on the crisis of democracy.
Minna Horowitz, Hannu Nieminen, Katja Lehtisaari & Alessandro D'Arma
1.8.2024
Doing “more with less”: the entrepreneurialization of Finnish higher education and innovation policy discourses in 2015–2019
English
In the past decades, the development of higher education institutions (HEIs) in industrialized countries has become intertwined with innovation policy and the goal of national competitiveness. Focusing on the discourses on innovation by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), this article illustrates the transformation of Finnish higher education policy ideas in the late 2010s following the demise of the previous policy consensus built around the notion of the National Innovation System. Through a critical policy discourse analysis of 35 publications by the MEC, we demonstrate that its recent policy discourses are dominated by an increasingly market-centric strategy of entrepreneurialism in conditions of major cuts to the public funding of universities and R&D. This strategy has serious limitations and contradictions, which have generated institutional conflicts and hinder the development of a more sustainable and balanced innovation agenda for the Finnish higher education field.
Marko Ampuja & Minna Horowitz
2.5.2024
Beyond online disinformation: assessing national information resilience in four European countries
English
As social media is a key conduit for the distribution of disinformation, much of the literature on disinformation in elections has been focused on the internet and global social media platforms. Literature on societal and media trust has also grown in recent years. Yet, disinformation is not limited to global platforms or the internet, traditional media outlets in many European countries act as vehicles of disinformation often under the direction of the government. Moreover, the connection between trust and resilience to disinformation has been less discussed. This article is aimed at tackling the question of what makes a country vulnerable to or resilient against online disinformation. It argues that a society’s information resilience can be viewed as a combination of structural characteristics, features of its knowledge-distribution institutions including its media system, and the activities and capabilities of its citizens. The article makes this argument by describing these dimensions in four European case countries, based on comparable statistics and document analyses. The results indicate that European-wide strategies do not uniformly strengthen national resilience against disinformation and that anti-disinformation strategies need to be anchored in targeted assessments of the state of information resilience at the national level to be more effective. Such assessments are central, particularly to understanding citizens’ information needs in key democratic events such as elections.
Marius Dragomir, José Rúas-Araújo & Minna Horowitz
2.5.2024
The war in Ukraine and the ambivalent figure of ‘Babushka’: Intersectional nation-building and the delegitimisation/legitimisation of war on YouTube
English
In this article, we demonstrate how international social-media discussions offer a platform for taking a stance on the war in Ukraine, redrawing national boundaries and legitimising their defence. We do so by analysing data that consist of comments triggered by a viral YouTube video depicting an encounter between an ageing civilian woman, labelled ‘Babushka Z’, and a Ukrainian soldier. Using a critical discursive psychological framework, we identify five interpretative repertoires: vulnerability, incapacity, national continuity, masculinised warriorship and righteousness. Our analysis illuminates how these repertoires draw on and reproduce intersecting categorisations based on gender, age and ethnic heritage. With the help of these categorisations, the repertoires build competing images of the actions of the figures in the video, which come to symbolise in various ways both patriotism and treason, heroism and cowardice. By aligning with competing historical-national narratives, the commentors use these images to (de)legitimise the war and its actors.
Marja Lönnroth-Olin, Satu Venäläinen, Rusten Menard, Teemu Pauha & Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti
2.5.2024
Why Does Disinformation Spread in Liberal Democracies? The Relationship between Disinformation, Inequality, and the Media
English
In principle, liberal democracy is about an equal right to decision-making and presumes a public sphere, equally open to all. However, in practice, this normative ideal, articulated, among others, by Jürgen Habermas and John Dewey, is farther away today than ever since WWII. The “real” public sphere, distinguished from its ideal, is harmed by conflicting and divisive interests, often presenting themselves in the form of information campaigns targeting the most vulnerable groups of society. The information offered is often labelled as disinformation, i.e. information that is misleading or purposefully false. However, this article claims that we must distinguish between different uses of the concept of disinformation. Although disinformation campaigns are increasingly harmful for democracy, the label of disinformation can be used to silence necessary critical voices and movements in society, thus promoting a public sphere based on a forced consensus. This article focuses on current European developments, although there are references to the developments in other continents as well. It is based on a review of recent research publications and public policy documents about different aspects of disinformation and inequality.
Hannu Nieminen
2.16.2024
Communication rights and the Nordic epistemic commons: Assessing the media welfare state in the age of information disorder.
English
Information disorder occurs when the fact-based, reliable, and professionally validated provision of information becomes confronted by information that attacks previously trusted media platforms, disputes the known or scientifically validated facts, or uses rumours and gossip as sources. Information disorder intensifies during turbulent times, as evidenced by the global rise of xenophobic movements, disbelief in science, and belief in conspiracies. Although Nordic countries fare remarkably well by many measures that assess democratic and robust communication environments, they also face these challenges. In this chapter, we view the Nordic media welfare state as ideally entailing an epistemic commons – a shared forum for trustworthy knowledge and culture – that supports citizens’ communication rights of access to and availability of diverse content, as well as privacy and dialogical public communication. Based on these key principles embedded in the Nordic media welfare state model, we assess its present condition by employing the framework of communication rights as our analytical tool. We argue that rights-based approaches in policy and practice are essential if a Nordic digital media welfare state is to be realised and maintained.
Minna Horowitz & Hannu Nieminen
5.31.2024
Diasporas during conflict: A mixed-method analysis of attitudes of the Russian-speaking community in Finland towards the Russia-Ukraine war
English
This mixed-method study of 1,374 Russian-speaking immigrants living in Finland investigated how different characteristics of their socio-political integration are reflected in their attitudes towards supporting Ukraine during the war. The results of survey responses showed that trust in Finnish media and engagement with Finnish societal issues predicted stronger ‘pro-Ukraine’ attitudes (i.e., support for Finland's aid for Ukraine and condemning of Russia's invasion), while experiences of increased hate speech or discrimination of Russian speakers in Finland were related to weaker ‘pro-Ukraine’ attitudes. Next, person-centred analysis identified three socio-political integration clusters. High Integration cluster respondents highly supported Ukraine as compared to Critical and Low Integration clusters. Critical Integration respondents were somewhat more integrated than Low Integration respondents, except they felt that discrimination towards Russian speakers had increased due to the war. Analyses of open-ended responses confirmed that Critical Integration respondents were most likely concerned with discrimination. Low integration respondents had ambivalent attitudes in that many were opposed to the war but felt that Western countries were also responsible. Our findings highlight the role of socio-political integration – and especially perceived discrimination – in shaping immigrants' political views during political turmoil. Receiving societies should promote non-discrimination and inclusiveness to mitigate intergroup conflicts in societies with significant diasporic communities. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.
Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti, Zea Szebeni, Dina Birman, Eemil Mitikka & Tuuli Anna Renvik
6.5.2024
Nordic Illusion and Challenges for Epistemic Rights in the Era of Digital Media
English
This chapter contributes to the study of epistemic rights by addressing how the Nordic countries support freedom of speech and dialogical rights during the digital era through regulation and other media policy measures. Also considering their historical backgrounds, we examine the differences and persistent similarities in the Nordic countries’ practices through three example cases. First, we examine the regulation of online audiovisual media, demonstrating national path dependencies in content moderation legislation. Second, we explore disputes between public service and private media related to media content and subsidies, which are both essential in supporting the public’s rights to varied information and social dialogue. Third, we discuss national policy responses to online hate speech that challenge both freedom of expression and dialogue.
Reeta Pöyhtäri, Riku Neuvonen, Marko Ala-Fossi, Katja Lehtisaari & Jockum Hildén
6.5.2024
Media and power in times of hegemonic crisis: exploring contentious climate politics on Twitter
English
During moments of hegemonic crisis, it is crucial to understand the dynamics of media power. This article identifies key structural forces and disruptive tendencies that are factors in a current crisis of the neoliberal hegemonic order. This intellectual background underpins an empirical analysis of Twitter data collected during the UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland (COP26). We identify large attention clusters around established political actors and their counter-hegemonic challengers; concluding that during these intense global political events a hegemonic crisis produces spaces where systemically marginalized actors can harness relational attention power and mobilize it toward distinct political purposes.
Matthew Tegelberg, Risto Kunelius & Matti Pohjonen
6.5.2024
Addressing the hate speech issue in the Nordic countries: a challenge for media welfare states or a chance for their revival
English
Hate speech on digital platforms manifests itself in ways that need to be addressed both in practice and on a policy level, taking Nordic (media) policies into novel areas. For this chapter, I analysed and compared policy documents discussing hate speech from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, with a focus on how hate speech is defined, the perceived harmful functions of hate speech, and the suggested remedies. The analysis shows that hate speech is perceived to endanger societies’ democratic functions, public debate, and freedom of speech. Hate speech targets specific minorities and especially those in public positions or participating in public debate. The suggested remedies correspond with media welfare state ideals: increased collaboration between all relevant parties, state support for both citizens and media, and adjustments of existing laws. The role of online platforms is crucial, but concrete measures to hold them responsible still wait for the implementation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act legislation.
Reeta Pöyhtäri
6.5.2024
Public service without broadcasting? Conditions for abandoning terrestrial television in Finland
English
Finnish Yleisradio (Yle) has been one of the most innovative public service broadcasters in Europe. The new tax-based funding system and broad remit have allowed the company to shift its focus from broadcast television and radio to online services without jeopardising its relevance or resources. Now Yle has set preconditions for the future availability of its online television in case digital terrestrial television (DTT) would be switched off and all ultra high frequencies reallocated. This is not because Yle would want to focus only on growing video audiences online, but because the Finnish spectrum policy favouring mobile industries could endanger Yle’s capability to fulfil its public service remit. We argue that Yle’s conditions for abandoning television broadcasting on DTT are so tight they might never be met by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. In this chapter, we also examine what consequences public service without broadcasting could have.
Marko Ala-Fossi, Katja Lehtisaari & Riku Neuvonen
6.5.2024
The Netherlands: Populism from Margins to the Mainstream
English
The chapter discusses the political context in the Netherlands during the 2019 EP elections and introduces the political communication environment of the country. Particular attention is given to the role of Twitter in Dutch political communication and populism in the country’s party field during the twenty-first century. The empirical Twitter analysis focuses on 11,397 tweets sent from 223 Twitter accounts by various political actors during a one-month period in May 2019.
Carola Schoor, Reeta Pöyhtäri & Tuija Saresma
6.5.2024
Disruptive (dis)engagement: platformisation as a global social policy.
English
Global digital platforms have become important actors for economy and work with social policy consequences. This article analyses strategies and actions of global digital platforms from the perspective of how and what kind of global social policy these represent. It draws from analysis of how platform company strategic approaches relate to rights, regulation, and redistribution, and then using abductive reasoning and mixed methods empirical case study in Europe, articulate challenges to future global social policy. It examines what priorities of platform companies imply to global social policy and identifies five political and strategic elements of importance for global social policy: (1) denial or avoidance of employer status, (2) identifying as a “tech company providing services”, (3) focus on private social insurance in contrast to statutory social security, (4) addressing social security as a market-based service through voluntary partnerships, and (5) investor driven business model and global engagement. Drawing from theoretical and empirical data, the article further examines potential countermeasures and solutions, which could be of relevance at different levels of governance. It concludes that social policy impacts of platform economy are more related to the business model than technology. Platform economy business models currently support upward redistribution and avoidance of regulatory measures to address minimum income, social protection, and workers’ rights, yet platform economy is data rich and also could provide scope for government and regulatory action.
Meri Koivusalo, Arseniy Svynarenko, Benta Mbare & Mikko Perkiö
11.5.2024
“The Truth Always Comes Out”: Disinformation and the Dynamics of Truth in Hungary's Sociopolitical Landscape
English
This dissertation investigates the psychological and societal mechanisms underlying disinformation susceptibility and truth perception dynamics within Hungary's political context. The research addresses how "fake news" affects democratic processes and how media shapes public truth perception. It examines how social-psychological factors—including biases, ideological preferences, institutional trust, and epistemic frameworks—influence disinformation belief.
Zea Szebeni
11.25.2024
Kriittistä ja monimuotoista: nuoret aikuiset ja luottamus mediaan.
English
Perinteisen median aseman on katsottu rapautuneen ympäri maailmaa 2000-luvun aikana. Kehityskulun nähdään ilmentävän yleisempää yhteiskunnan legitimiteetin kyseenalaistamista (Edelman 2022). Synkimmät arviot ovat jo pitkään povanneet demokratian kriisiä (van der Meer 2017).
Irina Hasala, Hanna Catani, Minna Horowitz ja Janne Matikainen
3.30.2023
Uudet oikeudet internetissä: mistä ne tulevat ja keitä ne velvoittavat?
English
Viestinnän sääntelyä koskevan keskustelun yti messä ovat viimeisten kahden vuosikymmenen ajan olleet yksilön oikeudet. Koskaan aiemmin historiassa ei yksittäisillä ihmisillä ole ollut yhtä laajoja mahdollisuuksia julkaista, levittää ja vastaan ottaa erilaisia sisältöjä kuin nyt, digitaa listen julkaisualustojen aikakaudella. Keskustelu yksilön oikeuksista liittyy julkisuudessa ja tutki muksissa esitettyihin huoliin sisältöjen ja julkisen keskustelun portinvartijoiksi nousseiden alusto jen vallasta ja niiden aiheuttamista uhista yksilön autonomialle (esim. Zuboff 2019). Maksuttoman julkaisukanavan vastineeksi käyttäjät joutuvat solmimaan alustojen kanssa sopimuksen, joka antaa niille luvan yksityisyyden alaan kuuluvien tietojen hyödyntämiseen liiketoiminnassa sekä julkisen keskustelun ohjaamiseen muun muassa suodattamalla ja kuratoimalla sisältöjä salatuilla algoritmeilla.
Riku Neuvonen & Kari Karppinen
10.2.2023
Mahdoton kilpajuoksu? Oikeus viestinnän kehityksen mahdollistajana.
English
In the history of freedom of speech, the law has been seen as an obstacle to economic and commercial innovations. However, technological development is a key part of the history of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech has been synonymous with freedom of the press, which as a concept refers to specific communication technology. Internet regulation is based on the exemption of liability for certain internet companies. This has created a new public space and new business models. Now this activity is being reined in again through law. The central question posed by the article is how law and communication technology interact and how the law can act as an enabler.
Riku Neuvonen
12.21.2023
Mahdoton kilpajuoksu? Oikeus viestinnän kehityksen mahdollistajana.
English
In the history of freedom of speech, the law has been seen as an obstacle to economic and commercial innovations. However, technological development is a key part of the history of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech has been synonymous with freedom of the press, which as a concept refers to specific communication technology. Internet regulation is based on the exemption of liability for certain internet companies. This has created a new public space and new business models. Now this activity is being reined in again through law. The central question posed by the article is how law and communication technology interact and how the law can act as an enabler.
Riku Neuvonen
2.5.2024
Viestintäoikeus–vakiintunut oikeudenala?
English
Tämä artikkeli on osin katsaus kahdenkymmenen vuoden päähän ja toisaalta katsaus eteenpäin. Artikkelissa hyödynnetään pohjana alkuaikojen viestintäoikeuden asemointia eri tutkimuksissa ja viisi vuotta sitten yhdessä Pauli Rautiaisen kanssa kirjoittamaani katsausta viestintäoikeuden vuosikirjojen sisältöön. Kirjoituksessani pohjana on näin ollen lukuisia omia tekstejäni ja yleisesti aikalaisena suhtautuminen käytyyn keskusteluun tuo oman perspektiivinsä. Tästä syystä tämän artikkelin tyylilaji on esseemäinen enkä pyri häivyttämään omaa osuuttani viittauksilla.
Riku Neuvonen
2.5.2024
Public Service Media and the Internet: Two Decades in Review
English
Since the beginning of the 21st century, public service broadcasters (PSBs) have been confronted with the rise of the Internet as a mainstream medium of communication. This has sparked a debate on the transition from PSB to public service media (PSM). In this article, we present a review of the academic literature on PSM and the Internet produced from 2000 to 2021. We focus on contributions interrogating the implications of PSM’s online activities for the delivery of public service values. We identify seven streams of research and show how, as a whole, this body of work has highlighted the main tensions and dilemmas that PSM organizations have faced, given their special nature, when engaging with the technological affordances of the Internet. Researchers have also shown how the delivery of public value can be enhanced via PSM’s online services. Arguing for the continued relevance of PSM, they have reasserted traditional values while also identifying new roles that PSM are called to play in the context of today’s digital communications.
Alessandro D'Arma, Steven Barclay & Minna Horowitz
2.5.2024
Luottamusta rakentamassa. Media- ja informaatiolukutaito ja kansallinen resilienssi.
English
Suomi tunnetaan kansainvälisesti poliittisista ja pedagogisista innovaatioistaan media- ja informaatiolukutaitojen eli MIL-taitojen kehittämiseksi. Mediaan kohdistuva lukutaito on Unescon ja Euroopan unionin keskeisiä politiikkakäsitteitä, jota suositellaan yhdeksi lääkkeeksi informaatiohäiriöihin. Resilienssi eli vastustuskyky erilaisia informaatiohäiriöitä, kuten valheellista viestintää, kohtaan on kuitenkin laajempi ilmiö, johon kytkeytyy olennaisena luottamuksen kokemus. Resilientissä yhteiskunnassa on luottamusta mediaan, koko yhteiskuntaan ja toisiimme.
Minna Horowitz & Janne Matikainen
12.9.2024
Reports
Policy recommendations and reports on studies and events
Links open externally.
Report on National Surveys in the NORDIS Countries on Audiences’ Experiences of Media Trust and Disinformation
English
This NORDIS study, co-funded by the C.V. Åkerlund Media Foundation, focuses on Nordic audiences’ experiences of media trust and experiences of disinformation, based on nationwide, representative surveys in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in May-June 2023.
Minna Horowitz, Elis Karell and Arto Kekkonen
11.7.2023
Round-table discussion on diversity in the media
English
A diverse group of experts convened at the invitation of the DECA Project at the University of Helsinki in November 2023 to discuss the state of diversity in Finland and to consider concrete measures to increase it. This report has been compiled from notes that were taken at the round-table event.
Elis Karell, Veera Koskinen, Mervi Pantti & Matleena Ylikoski
2.15.2024
EU Media Regulation: A Balancing Act
English
A new study released today by the MJRC examines how the EU navigates the delicate balance between protecting its values, fostering a competitive market, and satisfying the diverse needs of its member countries in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
Minna Horowitz
5.31.2024
Ukrainians in Finland who fled the war: their registration in municipalities of residence and their future plans: Survey results.
English
The purpose of the survey was to map the plans of Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Finland with regard to their residence in the country, applying for registration in a municipality of residence and possible return to Ukraine. The survey is based on the results of an online Webropol questionnaire for Ukrainians. The questionnaire was filled in by 1 302 Ukrainians. The survey was a follow-up to a similar study carried out in summer 2022, and it was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior. Of the respondents, 53% had registered their municipality of residence in the population register and 28% intended to apply for registration. Only 2% of the respondents said they did not intend to apply for registration. The reasons given by respondents for not applying for registration were uncertainty about the continuation of their residence permit, lack of information about applying for registration in a municipality of residence and fear of losing services and benefits. The majority (82%) of Ukrainians who responded to the survey planned for the next six months to remain living in the same place where they were residing in Finland. Of the respondents, 12% intended to return to Ukraine once the security situation in the country has stabilised, 35% were unsure and 51% said they wanted to settle in Finland permanently. According to the survey, Ukrainians trust the information provided by the Finnish authorities more than before. Over 90% of the respondents were satisfied with their life in Finland. How long the respondents had been in Finland did not affect their level of satisfaction.
Anastasia Koptsyukh & Arseniy Svynarenko
6.5.2024
Nuoret on monikko: Nuorten mediasuhteet ja mediavälitteinen tieto digitaalisten alustojen ajalla
English
Tietopaketti siitä, mitä suomalainen tai vertaileva kansainvälinen tutkimus on viime vuosina kertonut meille nuorten suhteista ja suhtautumisesta mediaan.
Minna Horowitz, Antti Kivijärvi, Katja Lehtisaari, Janne Matikainen, Mervi Pantti, Arseniy Svynarenko & Matleena Ylikoski
5.22.2023
Inklusiivisuus ja digitaaliset taidot – eri ryhmät käyttäjinä ja toimijoina tekoälyssä
English
Kooste 9.11.2023 käydystä pyöreän pöydän keskustelusta, jonka aiheena oli "Inklusiivisuus ja digitaaliset taidot – eri ryhmät käyttäjinä ja toimijoina tekoälyssä".
Elis Karell, Karoliina Snell ja Veera Koskinen
11.24.2023
Pyöreän pöydän keskustelu median moniäänisyydestä
English
Marraskuussa 2023 monipuolinen asiantuntijajoukko kokoontui DECA-hankkeen koollekutsumana Helsingin yliopiston juhlahuoneistolle keskustelemaan moniäänisyyden tilanteesta Suomessa ja pohtimaan konkreettisia toimia moniäänisyyden lisäämiseksi. Tähän raporttiin on koostettu keskustelun keskeinen anti.
Elis Karell, Veera Koskinen, Mervi Pantti & Matleena Ylikoski
12.7.2023
Luottamusta rakentamassa, luottamusta kokemassa: Mediapäättäjien ja journalismin yleisöjen näkemyksiä
English
Miten suomalaiset päätoimittajat kokevat toimintaympäristönsä sekä yleisöjen luottamuksen rakentamisen osatekijät ja reunaehdot? Miten mediakuluttajat kokevat luottamuksen eri viestimiin – niiden vallan, ja vastuun sekä luottamukseen vaikuttavat seikat? Tutkimuskonsortio DECA ja Turun yliopiston Tulevaisuuden tutkimuskeskus ovat loppukeväästä 2023 toteuttaneet kaksi kyselytutkimusta: toinen päätoimittajille, toinen kansallisesti 15-79-vuotiaille suomalaisille, osin yhtenäisin kysymyksin.
Mikko Grönlund, Minna Horowitz ja Katja Lehtisaari
1.23.2024
Kuinka turvata kansalaisten tiedolliset oikeudet tekoälyn aikakaudella?
English
Sitran Digitaalinen valta ja demokratia -projekti järjesti maaliskuussa 2024 pyöreän pöydän keskustelun, jonka tavoitteena oli hahmotella toimenpidesuosituksia kansalaisten tiedollisten oikeuksien turvaamiseksi nopeasti teknologisoituvassa ja tekoälyistyvässä yhteiskunnassa. Raportti on koostettu tilaisuudessa tehtyjen muistiinpanojen pohjalta DECA:n ja Sitran yhteistyönä.
Veera Koskinen & Kirsi Hantula
4.12.2024
Luottamusta rakentamassa, luottamusta kokemassa. Mediapäättäjien ja journalismin yleisöjen näkemyksiä
English
Miten suomalaiset päätoimittajat kokevat toimintaympäristönsä sekä yleisöjen luottamuksen rakentamisen osatekijät ja reunaehdot? Miten mediakuluttajat kokevat luottamuksen eri viestimiin – niiden vallan ja vastuun sekä luottamukseen vaikuttavat seikat? Tutkimuskonsortio DECA ja Turun yliopiston Tulevaisuuden tutkimuskeskus toteuttivat loppukeväästä 2023 kaksi kyselytutkimusta: toinen päätoimittajille, toinen kansallisesti 15–79-vuotiaille suomalaisille, osin yhtenäisin kysymyksiin.
Mikko Grönlund, Minna Horowitz & Katja Lehtisaari
5.31.2024
Other publications
Articles, podcasts and audiovisual publications meant for the general public
Links open externally.
Communication Rights in the Digital Age
English
DECA has a channel on SoundCloud that is filled with interesting podcasts on project’s themes, especially on communication rights, disinformation, and platformization. Interviewees include Tendai Chari (University of Venda), Karen Donders (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Marko Milosavljević (University of Ljubljana), and many others.
3.19.2023
Populism research demands more nuance: enter tribalism
English
Tribalism has emerged as a key term in political discussions — often used, but not clearly defined. Ilana Hartikainen and Zea Szebeni propose reconceptualising ‘tribalism’ to differentiate forms of political mobilisation. Tribalism, they argue, forms exclusive groups around shared values — and it’s gone global
Ilana Hartikainen & Zea Szebeni
6.5.2024
Comment on the draft Delegated Regulation on data access provided for in the Digital Services Act
English
Comment on the proposed COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) of supplementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council by laying down the technical conditions and procedures under which providers of very large online platforms and of very large online search engines are to share data pursuant to Article 40 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065
Minna Horowitz
11.27.2024
DECA-tilannekuvaraportti 2022
English
Nopeasti muuttunut viestintäympäristö haastaa suomalaisen hyvinvointiyhteiskunnan turvallisuuden ja keskinäisen luottamuksen. Demokratian episteeminen toimintakyky algoritmien aikakaudella - konsortio (DECA) tutkii yhteiskunnan tiedollisia järjestelmiä, käytänteitä ja ongelmia yksilöiden, instituutioiden ja digitaalisten infrastruktuurien tasoilla.
3.19.2023
Julkilausuma digitaalisen informaatiolukutaidon huomioimisesta tulevissa hallitusohjelmaneuvotteluissa
English
Julkilausuma pohjautuu 26.1.2023 käytyyn pyöreän pöydän keskusteluun, johon osallistui parisenkymmentä medialukutaidon asiantuntijaa niin tutkimuksen, julkishallinnon kuin kansalaisyhteiskunnan kentiltä. Julkilausuman ovat allekirjoittaneet DECA:n lisäksi IMAGINE-hanke, CRITICAL-hanke, Sitra, Faktabaari, Kriittinen korkeakoulu ja Tiedonjulkistamisen neuvottelukunta.
4.5.2023
Mediapäättäjiä huolestuttaa resurssien riittävyys, yleisöjä disinformaatio
English
Tutkimuskonsortio DECA ja Turun yliopiston Tulevaisuuden tutkimuskeskus toteuttivat vuonna 2023 kaksi kyselytutkimusta: toinen päätoimittajille, toinen 15-79-vuotiaille suomalaisille, osin yhtenäisin kysymyksin.
Minna Horowitz, Katja Lehtisaari ja Mikko Grönlund
1.26.2024
Näkökulmia tekoälyyn, osa 2 – Riku Neuvonen: Tekijänoikeudella suojattu aineisto tekoälyn koulutuksessa
English
Tällä hetkellä tekoäly on vallitseva ilmiö monilla aloilla. Samalla siihen liittyy myös monia pelkoja ja uhkakuvia. Erityisesti luovilla aloilla sen pelätään ja uskotaan korvaavan luovan työn tekijät. Keskustelusta usein kuitenkin unohtuu, että tekoälyä koulutetaan olemassa olevan aineiston perusteella. Onko tämä tekijänoikeuden kannalta sallittua? Entä voiko tekoäly olla tekijänoikeuden suojaan oikeutettu tekijä?
Riku Neuvonen
6.5.2024
Näkökulma: Suurin osa suomalaisista luottaa uutisiin, mutta kolmannes ei. Tätä he toivovat medialta.
English
Salla Tuomolan essee pohjaa DECA-hankkeessa tehtyihin tutkimushaastatteluihin. Tuomola haastatteli 25 ihmistä heidän luottamuksestaan mediaan sekä siitä, millaisia odotuksia heillä on journalismille. Essee on julkaistu Journalisti-lehdessä 14.8.2024
Salla Tuomola
8.15.2024
Yliopistojen yrittäjähenkistymisen sokeat pisteet
English
Yrittäjyyskoulutuksen viimeaikaisessa nousussa ja yrittäjyyden merkitystä korostavassa koulutuspolitiikassa laajemminkin on ngelmia ja yksipuolisuuksia, joista olisi syytä keskustella nykyistä enemmän ja avoimemmin. Perustelen tätä väitettä seuraavassa omaan tutkimukseeni ja aihetta koskevan tutkimuskirjallisuuteen nojaten. Asetan aluksi yrittäjyyskoulutuksen esiinmarssin yliopistoissa laajempaan yhteiskunnalliseen ja poliittiseen kontekstiin. Tämän jälkeen kuvaan sen saamia muotoja nyky-yliopistoissa, ja lopuksi esitän kriittisiä huomautuksia kyseisen kehityskulun sokeista pisteistä. Kirjoitukseni tarkoituksena on tuoda esiin, että yltiöoptimistinen puhe yrittäjyyden siunauksellisuudesta johtaa yliopistopolitiikkaa harhateille tai vähintäänkin yksipuolistaa sitä tavalla, joka ansaitsee julkista kritiikkiä.
Marko Ampuja
11.5.2024
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