On 17 June 2019, the National Police Board, the Office of the Prosecutor General and Chief Judges of District Courts submitted to the Ministry of Justice their joint proposal on the legal amendments needed to address “targeting” of individuals for online harassment.
“It has become an increasingly wide-spread phenomenon in society to target individuals for online harassment with an aim to defame and harass public officials and employees and, thereby, to influence the decision-making or operations of their employer organisations,” says Deputy National Police Commissioner Janne Paavola from the National Police Board.
According to Paavola, setting public officials as targets may threaten such activities as bringing offenders to justice; the legality, speed and legal certainty of decision-making; and the independence of authorities.
“The existing legislation does not provide protection for controlling the phenomenon in every respect,” Paavola points out.
Amending criminalisation provisions to subject certain offences to public prosecution
The parties (the National Police Board, the Office of the Prosecutor General and Chief Judges of District Courts) propose that certain criminalisation provisions partly suited for controlling online targeting (e.g. menace, defamation and dissemination of information violating personal privacy) be changed from complainant offences to offences subject to public prosecution when the person subjected to the crime is a public official, employee or someone close to them for reasons related to the work tasks of the targeted public official or employee.
“In such a case, addressing the issue would not be left up to an individual employee alone and at his or her discretion, but it would make it easier for the employer organisation of the targeted employee to intervene. The proposal would also provide protection for employees of civilian organisations,” Paavola says in justification of the proposal.
According to Paavola, at the same time, it is also important to note that authorities are obliged to take action − they cannot leave their official duties undone even though it may constitute a risk of being exposed to, for example, targeting for online harassment.
Authorities need extensive protection against online targeting
In their second proposal, the parties underscore that, to be able to uphold civil security and ensure undisturbed and legally secure operations of the authorities, authorities need more extensive protection against online targeting than individual actors. This should be executed by including a separate criminalisation provision under section 16 of the Criminal Code that would cover the various ways in which targeting of online harassment manifests itself, such as use of mob attacks in social media or offering a virtual platform for targeting,” Janne Paavola estimates .
Litigation expenses of authorities need to be compensated in a larger scale than is done today
Thirdly, the parties propose commencing a legislative project based on a comprehensive review of the regulation concerning compensation of the litigation costs of authorities. The legislation should enable advance improvement of the status of public officials as regards more extensive compensation of litigation costs in the roles of both an injured party and a suspect in a criminal case than provided by the existing laws.
The parties involved made the proposals partly in response to the goal presented in the Government Programme of Prime Minister Antti Rinne to more effectively address systematic harassment, threats and targeting that pose a threat to the freedom of expression, official activities, research, and media freedom.
