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Helsinki (pte057/10.02.2003/21:16) - A coalition of Finnish telecom and media companies are leading the fight against proposed government legislation which they say will stifle freedom of expression on the internet. Telecom operator TeliaSonera Finland http://www.teliasonera.fi/ is among companies that have spoken out against government plans to censor internet message boards.
In a campaign supported by ICC Finland - the Finnish affiliate of the ICC, the business association - a statement was delivered to the Finnish Parliament yesterday stating that "excessive domestic regulation of internet content would create significant uncertainties for business and have a chilling effect on commercial communication."
The Parliament of Finland is currently considering the proposed internet censorship law and Parliament's constitutional committee is expected to make a decision on legislation in the coming weeks. Critics of the proposed legislation say that current regulation is enough and that the plans amount to "using heavy artillery to kill flies".
According to Marja-Liisa Virtanen, Development Director of TeliaSonera Finland, messages sent to most message boards go straight into publication. Illegal and offensive material is deleted mostly upon request of visitors, but also to some extent on the own initiative of webmaster. "In proportion to the mass of messages, there are very few problems on the message boards."
The proposed law gives the same status to message boards on web sites as that of letters to the editor pages of newspapers. It would make owners of the message boards liable for all content in the same manner as publishers of printed press. Defenders of free speech on the internet argue that message boards are better compared to ad-hoc discussions, such as those that take place in bars.
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