The subject of politicians' responsibility for inciting hate speech and racism sparked a heated debate on Yle's TV1 talk show A-studio on Monday evening.
The Deputy Chair of the Social Democratic Party, Nasima Razmyar, criticised Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) on the rhetoric of the Finns Party.
"It can't be that we condemn something here and then say something different on other platforms. The condemnation must be evident everywhere," Razmyar said, citing what she characterised as the Finns Party's hesitancy to fully condemn far-right extremism.
"Now say here directly that you condemn extremism, the extreme right — [that] you consider it a very, very big problem at the moment," Razmyar urged Rantanen.
Rantanen responded by saying that in Finland the judicial system has the role of condemning matters and that the Finns Party can only disapprove of it and say that hate speech or racist activities will not be tolerated.
On Monday, MPs debated the subject of equality and non-discrimination.
The discussion was initiated by the opposition Social Democratic Party, prompted by a recent racially motivated stabbing in Oulu. Of all parties, only the Finns Party did not sign onto the motion for a debate.
All Points North podcast looked back at the series of racism and far-right scandals that rocked the coalition government last summer. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, Apple or via Spotify.
Great Replacement
On Monday evening, Rantanen asked Razmyar for examples of the Finns Party inciting violence in Parliament.
"Who incited the violence, can you tell me when you say so here. You said that there was incitement today too," Rantanen asked.
Razmyar cited the example of online discussion about the Great Replacement, which is a far-right extremist theory that suggests that ethnic white Western populations are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white people.
Rantanen's own past conspiracy theory-related social media posts came under intense scrutiny, leading the interior minister to remove her posts and denounce such theories.
As interior minister, Rantanen is responsible for supervising the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service Supo. The agency has previously expressed concern over the growth of right-wing extremism in Finland.
"What can we talk about?"
"There are unfortunate examples of this from around the world, and it is a dangerous theory that is being used by the Finns Party. I hope that things will be called by their right names," Razmyar said on A-studio.
Rantanen responded by saying that Finland's population was changing and it needs to be discussed.
"Now it is worth remembering that the theory of the Great Replacement, which is talked about as a theory of radicalisation, is true. It has an accelerationist background. But when we talk about the fact that we have a population that is inevitably changing. If we cannot talk about this, what can we talk about?" Rantanen said.
According to Razmyar, the fact that MPs were again prompted to debate the topic of racism said a lot about the current situation.
"When the interior minister says that her party is not particularly racist, I hope we will all say that there is zero tolerance for racism. Speeches are not just speeches, they create an atmosphere in society," Razmyar said.
Razmyar — who is an Afghan-born Finnish national who arrived as a refugee in 1993 — said she wondered whether the culture of debate in parliament gives tacit approval or winks to racism, especially to those at risk of becoming radicalised.
"In particular, I think it's very dangerous for young people who are already lonely, depressed, they certainly can't go down this road. We all have a huge responsibility," Nazmyar said.
