Internet & Online Safety · Finland
Online safety & content laws in Finland (2026)
Finland shaded by its internet & online safety status
Online safety rules in Finland: comprehensive law.
FrameworkEU Digital Services Act (Regulation 2022/2065) applied nationally via the Act on the Supervision of Online Intermediary Services (Laki verkon välityspalvelujen valvonnasta 18/2024); supervised by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) as Digital Services Coordinator, alongside the Consumer Ombudsman and the Data Protection Ombudsman
As an EU member state, Finland is directly bound by the Digital Services Act (DSA), which has applied to all intermediary services since 17 February 2024. Finland's national implementing legislation, Act 18/2024 on the supervision of online intermediary services, entered into force the same day and designates Traficom as the Digital Services Coordinator, with the Consumer Ombudsman and Data Protection Ombudsman as co-supervisors. Sector-specific rules on child sexual abuse material, hate speech, gambling and audiovisual content protection (overseen by KAVI, the National Audiovisual Institute) complement this comprehensive EU-derived regime.
The Digital Services Act in Finland
In Finland, online platforms and intermediaries are governed by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), a directly-applicable regulation covering illegal content, transparency and user protection.
- Framework
- the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065)
- Approach
- notice-and-action on illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms, and protection of minors
- Applies to
- online intermediaries, hosting services and platforms offering services to users in Finland, wherever established
- Very large platforms
- platforms and search engines with 45M+ EU users face extra systemic-risk audits, overseen by the European Commission
- Maximum fine
- up to 6% of global annual turnover
- Oversight
- the national Digital Services Coordinator, plus the European Commission for very large platforms
The DSA is an EU regulation applied directly in Finland; the national Digital Services Coordinator handles day-to-day supervision.
The Digital Services Act in Finland: FAQ
Yes. As an EU member, Finland is covered by the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), which applies directly.
Notice-and-action mechanisms for illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms of service, and measures to protect minors.
The national Digital Services Coordinator, with the European Commission supervising very large online platforms and search engines.
Up to 6% of a provider's global annual turnover for serious breaches.
Key points
Act 18/2024 on the Supervision of Online Intermediary Services entered into force on 17 February 2024, giving Finnish authorities inspection and information-gathering powers and enabling penalty payments of up to 6% of the provider's preceding-year global turnover for infringements.
The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom is the DSC and principal supervisor for the DSA in Finland; very large online platforms/search engines (VLOPs/VLOSEs) remain under direct European Commission supervision.
The Consumer Ombudsman supervises DSA provisions on protection of consumers and dark patterns, while the Data Protection Ombudsman covers transparency of advertising and recommender systems and the protection of minors on online platforms.
The former intermediary liability exemptions in Finland's Act on Electronic Communication Services (previously consolidated in the 2015 Information Society Code) have been replaced by the DSA's directly applicable notice-and-action, transparency and risk-mitigation obligations.
The National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) enforces age-classification and protection-of-minors rules for audiovisual and video-sharing services; strict age-18 verification applies to gambling and adult content, and Finland's Criminal Code provisions on CSAM and grooming were renewed on 1 January 2023.
Traficom reported 78 DSA complaints handled by Finnish authorities in 2024 (72 to Traficom itself), rising to 123 complaints in 2025 — most concerning Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, typically over account or content removals.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Finland's first horizontal cybersecurity law consolidates risk-management, incident-reporting (24h/72h) and supervision duties for essential and important entities, with NCSC-FI within Traficom coordinating. It hardens the security baseline for online and network services underpinning the safety framework.
Traficom ↗One year into DSA enforcement, Traficom and the Ombudsmen reported nearly 80 complaints, mostly about Facebook, Instagram and TikTok removing content or closing accounts. It signaled how Finns are using the new content-moderation redress rights.
Data Protection Ombudsman's Office ↗The Act on the Supervision of Online Intermediary Services (18/2024) entered into force alongside full DSA application, designating Traficom as national coordinator with the Consumer and Data Protection Ombudsmen, establishing notice-and-action, transparency and user-redress rules for platforms.
Finnish Government ↗Finland prepared national rules making the police the competent authority for one-hour removal orders and administrative sanctions, with Traficom handling specific-measure decisions. It introduced binding takedown obligations for terrorist content hosted online.
Ministry of the Interior ↗Finland extended audiovisual rules to video-sharing platforms for the first time, requiring measures to protect minors from harmful content and the public from illegal content and incitement. It brought social/video platforms into the broadcasting-style protection regime.
Finnish Government ↗Ten separate acts, including the CSAM-blocking law, telecoms privacy and broadcasting rules, were merged into one technology-neutral code (later renamed the Act on Electronic Communications Services), extending confidentiality and intermediary obligations and applying extraterritorially to services offered in Finland.
Finlex ↗The law gave the National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI/MEKU) authority to classify films, TV and digital games with 7/12/16/18 age limits for content harmful to children's development and to supervise on-demand and online providers, anchoring child-protection content rules.
KAVI (National Audiovisual Institute) ↗After ISPs began voluntary filtering of the National Bureau of Investigation's secret block list, the list was found to include legal sites and the very website criticizing the censorship, fueling lasting debate over secret blocking and overblocking.
Electronic Frontier Finland (Effi) ↗The law authorized the National Bureau of Investigation to maintain a confidential blocklist of foreign child-sexual-abuse-material sites for ISPs to filter, Finland's first internet content-blocking regime (later folded into the Information Society Code).
Wikipedia (Censorship in Finland) ↗Enacted 13 June 2003 (in force 1 January 2004), this technology-neutral law brought press, broadcasting and online/network communications under a single freedom-of-expression and liability framework, the foundation for regulating online content responsibility in Finland.
Finlex ↗Finland - other topics
Internet & Online Safety in other countries
Last verified 9/5/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026 · Explore the full world map →