What we can learn from Finland | Center for an Informed Public

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cip.uw.edu·cip.uw.edu/2023/03/01/finland-media-literacy/

Tangentially relevant to AI safety through the lens of information integrity and societal resilience to disinformation; focuses on institutional cooperation and media literacy education rather than technical AI safety topics.

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Summary

The University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public describes its efforts to build educational and research ties with Finland, a recognized global leader in media literacy and disinformation resilience. The article highlights Finland's long history of countering disinformation campaigns and explores what U.S. educators can learn from Finnish approaches to information literacy.

Key Points

•Finland is considered a global leader in media literacy education and has decades of experience countering disinformation campaigns.
•CIP received Washington state funding in 2022 to build research and educational partnerships with Finnish scholars, educators, and librarians.
•The collaboration aims to share research methods, teaching programs, and strategies for improving public resilience to mis- and disinformation.
•A 2021 Washington State-Finland MOU formalized cooperation on new technologies and societal interaction, providing a framework for this work.
•Finland's impending NATO membership increases the relevance of its disinformation resilience strategies for international partners.

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# What we can learn from Finland

Mar 1, 2023

![The main railway station in Helsinki, featuring art deco motifs, including tall streamlined human figurines holding lighting fixtures, toward dusk with other buildings in the lower right, with cloud cover overhead.](https://www.cip.uw.edu/files/2023/03/helsinki_railway_station.jpg)

**Photo above:** _The main railway station in Helsinki, Finland by__[Juha Uitto / Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/12810816@N08/47656554362) via [CC BY-NC 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/)_

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### _CIP continues work to foster educational ties with Finnish peers around efforts to improve information literacy skills._

The challenges we face navigating mis- and disinformation online and in our lives around us are far from unique here in the United States. While much of our work at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public is focused domestically, we recognize that the dynamics and impacts of rumors, mis- and disinformation are not bound by international borders.

In recent months, the CIP has been working to foster stronger educational ties with peers in Finland, a nation that has a long history of facing disinformation campaigns.

“There’s so much we can learn from Finland. They’re global leaders and have experience dealing with disinformation campaigns for many years,” said CIP co-founder **Jevin West**, a UW iSchool associate professor who studies data science, the science of science and misinformation and is helping to lead foster educational ties and partnership with peers in Finland, which plans to join NATO.

In 2021, Washington state officials [signed](https://www.geekwire.com/2021/washington-state-finland-sign-mou-establish-smart-port-tacoma/) a [Memorandum of Understanding](https://finlandabroad.fi/web/usa/current-affairs/-/asset_publisher/h5w4iTUJhNne/content/finland-and-washington-state-to-partner-on-transport-and-technology/384951) with the government of Finland to support stronger economic ties. Last year, the CIP received funding in the 2022 Washington state supplemental budget to build deeper ties with researchers, educators and librarians in Finland working in the areas of misinformation, disinformation, and media literacy. This work falls within the fifth area of the state’s MOU — new technologies changing ways how societies interact. Finland has faced disinformation campaigns throughout its history and with its movement into NATO,  these issues will be even more pertinent in the years to come.

![](https://www.cip.uw.edu/files/2019/08/WestJevin200.jpg)During a September 2022 visit to Finland, West was focused on building research and educational ties with scholars and teachers in Finland who work on mis- and disinformation and media literacy. In addition to visiting the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, State Sen. Marko Liias, and various leaders from across Washington, West also met with researchers and educators at the [Universi

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