Finland     

Technology, Social Media and Filtering

Finland has one of the most liberal Internet policies of any country.  In October 2009 Order no. 732/2009 was issued which declares that Internet access is a fundamental right for all Finnish citizens.  While 96% of the population already had high speed access to the Internet the law requires that as of July 1, 2010 the remaining 4% of the population, residing primarily in rural areas, has access to Internet at a speed of 1 megabit per second.  The ultimate goal of the Finnish government is to provide access at a rate of 100 megabits per second to all citizens by 2015.  In framing the issue of Internet access as a human right and by legally mandating that the access be high speed, Finland has become an exemplar of the United Nations push to have Internet access declared a human right.

Finland does not have any state mandated policies regarding the filtering of Internet content.  However, Finnish ISPs have voluntarily agreed to block access to foreign web sites that distribute child pornography.  This has created some controversy in Finland as some claim that legitimate sites are also blocked in the process.

Technology and Social Media in Education

Finland’s liberal Internet policy is also reflected in the attitudes that prevail in schools.  Just as the state effectively does not filter the Internet, neither do most Finnish schools.  Instead of enforcing responsible Internet use through the employment of filters, Finnish schools choose to teach students how to be responsible users of the Internet and, thus believe that students will then be equipped with the tools necessary to avoid inappropriate Internet content.  By putting the responsibility for safe Internet use back into the hands of  the students through education efforts, Finnish school officials believe the need for enforcement is, if not completely erased, at least drastically diminished, making the use of filters in the educational setting unnecessary.

Despite the emphasis on Internet connectivity and the  explicit teaching of responsible Internet use, Tarmo Toikkanen, a Finnish psychologist, researcher, software architect and author who studies learning and social media and other technology issues claims in this slidecast presented in Calgary, Canada on July 15, 2010, that the use of technology is Finnish education is not all that prevalent.  That said, however, Toikkanen did write a book specifically about social media and education with Eija Kalliala titled Sosiaalinen media opetuksessa that was published in 2009 by Finn Lectura.  The book, a description of which can be found here, is meant to be a resource for teachers who are seeking to integrate social media into their instructional practices. 

Furthermore, Teemu Arina the founder and CEO of Dicole Oy, a company that helps organizations explore the use of Web 2.0 applications, including social technologies, notes that among some vocal supporters the use of social media in Finnish education is eagerly discussed in the decentralized virtual organization known as  Sometu (sosiaalinen media oppimisen tukena – social media in support of learning)  although, Arina does raise questions regarding the effectiveness of this organization in implementing the systematic use of social media in Finnish classrooms.  It should also be noted that on May 13, 2010 is was reported that over 100 Finnish schools were using open source and that in 2009 Finland had the second highest rate of students using the Internet for online education (13%).   

Effects of Social Media Use and Filtering Across Society in Finland

The use of social media, in general, is pervasive throughout Finland.  Finland's homegrown social media network, IRC-Galleria, is used by more Finns than Facebook.   It has 415, 000 active members and more than 850,000 Finns visit the site each week.  The Finns are also experimenting with using social networks to help connect energy consumers in an effort to give people more control over their power usage.  Law already requires that Finnish homes be equipped with smart meters.  The goal is then to have these smart meters connect communities through social networks so that new, interactive micro-grids will be created whereSocial Media and Education Social Media and Education in consumers can individually share power as well as monitor the community's energy usage, hopefully prompting consumers to use energy more efficiently.  The hope is, too, that consumers will be able to work together to negotiate lower power rates.  Yet, even though social networking is widely accepted and is finding uses throughout Finnish society, there are still some criticisms being lobbied against it.  Some Finnish employers are beginning to restrict access to social networking sites during the work day.  Additionally, as in other countries, social networking sites have been used for nefarious purposes, such as when an 18 year-old Finnish student posted a YouTube video predicting a school massacre that he then carried out hours later.

The Future

With universal broadband access defined as a human right and plans to increase access speed by 2015, Finland is clearly at the forefront of embracing new media.  Furthermore, with leaders in the high tech and communications fields, such as Nokia, populating the business landscape, the future of information communication technologies and new media is firmly established in the country.  The key challenge to greater use of social media in the classroom is encouraging teachers, who have a great degree of autonomy, to innovate and embrace the use of new media in general and social media in particular.  The impetus to innovate may not be as compelling in Finland as in other countries as the call for educational reform and improvements may not that strong in the country that is ranked first internationally on PISA testing.  Nevertheless, the prospects for Finland continuing to be a global leader in technological innovation are strong.  With ubiquitous access, continued teaching of responsible media usage and a world-class educational system the future for social media use is Finland is promising.