🇪🇺❌🗣 The EU ordered YouTube to take down a video from a Finnish podcast which criticised the Chat Control initiative.

Puheenaihe podcast is a Finnish current affairs program with 60k subscribers. In this episode, Peter Sund, CEO of the Finnish Information Security Cluster (Kyberala ry) offered pointed criticism of the EU's new Chat Control directive, which was enacted under questionable circumstances.

Because the media is in Finnish, it is highly likely the censorship request came from a Finnish government official or a related party.

This makes it troublesome.

Because the Finnish constitution §12 guarantees freedom of expression.

Preventing political publications is a criminal offence: Abuse of Official Position, punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.

The particular episode remains available in the EU on Apple Music and Spotify.

Note that this is not automated YouTube copyright take down system or other automated system, because then the video would be blocked globally.

Because it is blocked only inside the EU the request to take down must have come from EU truth flaggers that speak Finnish.

The video does not contain hate speech or any questionable material.

In Finland political speech is protected, even more than regular speech. Discussing about the EU legislation is very political.

There is literally no reason to take it down except for 1) you are a butthurt politician who voted for chat control 2) you are an overzealous EU Digital Services Act truth flagger.

In both cases it is a crime in Finland, and a punishable offense, because you use authority and power to suppress legal political speech.

🔗 Mikko Ohtamaa