The International Press Institute (IPI) and the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) today publish a new report examining media capture in Finland in 2025 and the country’s compliance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
The report – the sixth in a new series of Media Capture Monitoring Reports for 2025 – reviews developments regarding EMFA in Finland – a country with one of one of the healthiest climates for press freedom in the world.
While other country reports in the series so far highlight engrained challenges for media capture and either slow or delayed implementation of EMFA, Finland is among the EU countries to have made the most progress on aligning domestic laws with provisions laid out under EMFA and offers a positive example of EU-mandated media reform.
Overall, the Finnish media ecosystem does not suffer from media capture due to a combination of strong legislation, forceful regulatory systems and healthy political and business practices.
Instead, due to its strong track record in media, communication, and democracy, Finland is often classified as a “media welfare state,” where communication services are traditionally regarded as public goods and editorial independence is actively encouraged – significantly limiting the space for the problematic capture and control of media.
Implementation on EMFA in Finland started back in October 2024 has since resulted in the adoption of the Act on the Supervision of Media Markets and several amendments to existing laws, designed to ensure compliance with EMFA’s core provisions while introducing minimal additional changes.
The report concludes that, in practice, this implementation in Finland has resulted in targeted additions to national legislation that ensure compliance without extending regulation beyond the scope of EMFA’s main provisions.
This report is part of a broader series covering seven other EU countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
IPI and MJRC will also publish an overview report, summarising major developments across the EU in the past year. The next reports will be published in the coming weeks.
These reports are intended as a resource for media rights organizations, civil society groups, policymakers, and advocates dedicated to monitoring and fostering media freedom across the EU.
For more information or media inquiries, please contact:
- Jamie Wiseman, Senior Europe Advocacy Officer – IPI, [email protected]
- Marius Dragomir, Project Editor – MJRC, [email protected]
This report by IPI is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.
