Defence Minister Carl Haglund revealed on Tuesday that he has turned down an interview request from a newspaper connected to the Finnbay site.
He told reporters that after looking at the questions the journalists planned to ask, he and his advisors were concerned about the way the organization might use his answers, and so he turned down the interview.
“In hindsight, it was a wise decision,” said Haglund. “It is not very likely that this is systematic Russian war propaganda, but that isn’t ruled out.”
The modern, fragmented media landscape is one reason for Finnbay’s prominence over the last week. Haglund says that Finns should be sceptical about their sources of information.
“In my opinion this case shows that on the internet these days there are more and more websites and information that it pays to analyse critically,” said Haglund. “It demands a certain critical analysis from all of us as citizens.”
Haglund said that his ministry would not intervene in the Finnbay case directly, as the site does not represent a threat to Finland’s security. Other authorities may look into other aspects of the site’s operation that have raised questions over the last week.
