The Finnish Supreme Court’s ‘1984’ Playbook 

The Supreme Court of Finland held that Päivi Rasanen, a longtime member of the Finnish Parliament, was guilty of the “hate crime” of “insulting” a group based on sexual orientation for publishing a church pamphlet over twenty years ago. A Lutheran bishop, Johanna Pohjola, was similarly convicted for publishing the pamphlet for the church.

Chillingly, Rasanen and Pohjola are now criminals for peacefully expressing their views in the public square.

The details that led up to this outrageous conviction are truly Orwellian.

Rasanen published her pamphlet, “Male and Female He Created Them,” in 2004, when Finland, like much of the world, was debating same-sex marriage. The pamphlet was meant to help others navigate those debates.

Years later, Finland amended its “War Crimes” statute, expanding the scope of criminal “hate speech” laws to include many new protected categories, resulting in this verdict where the court ruled it is illegal to publish “insulting” content.

Rasanen is a member of the Finnish Lutheran Church. In 2019, her church announced it would join the Helsinki Pride Parade. Rasanen gained international attention with a now-famous X post in which she criticized her church’s involvement in the pride parade and shared an image of a Bible verse.

A progressive prosecutor in Helsinki could not stand such an “affront” and commenced what would become an almost seven-year legal battle. She immediately launched and announced an investigation into Rasanen for criminal “hate speech.” During that investigation, she seemingly reviewed every statement that Rasanen had made on the subject of sexuality and dredged up the 15-year-old 20-page pamphlet, along with a single radio interview. She later charged Rasanen and Bishop Pohjola with hate crimes based on the Bible tweet, the pamphlet, and the interview.

Rasanen defended herself publicly by sharing links to the allegedly “offensive” material so people could see for themselves what, exactly, she was on trial for.

A Finnish lower court unanimously acquitted Rasanen and Pohjola on all counts, finding that posting Bible verses was not a crime. The case should have ended there. In the U.S., if the prosecution loses, the case is closed. But in Finland, the prosecutors can keep appealing even a clear loss, which they did. The Court of Appeals again fully and unanimously acquitted Rasanen and Pohjola.

The prosecutors took one more shot, appealing to the Supreme Court. And now, in a split 3-2 decision, the Supreme Court has found Rasanen and Pohjola guilty of “insult” under the “War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity” section of Finland’s criminal code.

The logic of the decision is mind-bending. The Court, thankfully, upheld the acquittal for the Bible tweet, finding it did not meet the threshold for incitement. That’s good. But how the Court found Rasanen guilty for publishing the pamphlet is straight out of George Orwell’s 1984.

The Court argued that simply because the prosecution started an investigation in 2019 — about a tweet that the Court itself says is allowed — Rasanen should have known that her early-2000s pamphlet might now be seen as “insulting” under a law enacted years later. The Court concluded that Rasanen should have removed the allegedly insulting statements before reposting a link to them — even before any charges were filed.

So it was the very fact that she was being publicly investigated and sought to defend herself that made her a criminal and her statements ipso facto illegal.

This is not justice. This is Year Zero thinking, where an official accusation can turn someone into a thought-criminal, and any defense is used against them. It is the upside-down world.

The Court, doubling down on Orwellian reasoning, has demanded that Rasanen and Pohjola remove and “destroy” the “offending” statements from the pamphlet. This is simply the mandatory erasure of history and thought.

How many books, articles, and posts available online “might be” considered “insulting” to a group? Must publishers and authors scour their online libraries and remove anything others might find offensive? Does a mere accusation of offense now mandate people pull their beliefs and statements offline? The Court’s twisted logic points toward all these dystopian outcomes.

Päivi Rasanen has shown immense Christlike grace throughout this whole ordeal, and I pray that she receives justice soon, through an appeal or otherwise.

But the decision in her case goes far beyond just one individual. How many people will refuse to speak up if there is even the hint of controversy in their views, religious or otherwise, especially if the powers-that-be clearly disfavor those views?

Is this how Europe will use mechanisms like the Digital Services Act to silence alleged “hate speech” and export censorship online and globally?

The Finnish Supreme Court’s decision against Rasanen is an outrage against her and against the most fundamental principles of free speech. It is more obvious than ever that “hate speech” laws are inherently abusive and must be repealed. This decision should be widely condemned by people worldwide who value freedom.

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Sean Nelson is an international human rights lawyer serving as Senior Counsel for Global Religious Freedom with ADF International.