Mixed reactions have continued to trail the restriction of comments from the readers of Yle news in English. Finland’s national public broadcasting company (Yle) posted on their Facebook page that they are restricting comments on most posts, a decision which did not go down well with most of the English readers.
As of 2018, there are 402,600 foreigners residing in Finland, which corresponds to 7.3% of the population. A good number of them don’t understand basic Finnish. Yle news in English and other news are doing well to keep them abreast with what is happening in the country.
It is a known fact that hate speech, bullying, the use of derogatory words, animosity, incendiary comments, etc continues to flood the comment section of posts that borders on salient issue. However, restricting the comment section of the English news could mean a respite for the journalists who claims that they have come under threats which makes them uncomfortable.
Yle post reads “Our resources are limited and we have to prioritise. We do not have dedicated shifts for social media moderation, unlike the Finnish-language news operation. Moderation does take time, and it takes more time when there is a lot of news. This makes it difficult to keep up with the volume of comments.”
We know from feedback that the sometimes aggressive nature of debate on Facebook makes it a less than welcoming place for many people. Stricter moderation would mean spending more time on FB, and that time is away from our normal reporting duties. We also have some concerns about Facebook as a platform. It rewards outrageous comments, and allows some speech including threats against journalists that makes us uncomfortable. Trolls and fake accounts are active and numerous on Facebook, which seems unable or unwilling to deal with them. Maintaining higher standards than the platform itself is difficult if not ultimately impossible, Yle says.
I expect disabled comment section on the finnish sites now because it’s WAY worse there. WAY worse. But looks like it‘s easier to shut down foreigners.
I would advise all Finnish media outlets on social media (both Finnish and English languages) to have their comments section completely disabled. Social media threats and hate speech is real. Protect the mental health of your staffs YLE and also that if your readers. ✌️
So you’re essentially censoring the English minority in Finland yet the native speakers can continue on, discrimination?
That is a baseless argument. If you are indeed concerned about Facebook policies as a platform then even yle Finnish page would be affected.
You also mention that managing this page requires a lot of resources which must hence be taken from other duties. To me, it amounts to a simple fact. English speakers aren’t your priority group.
