Finnish daily uses shooter to escape Russian press restrictions

HELSINKI (Reuters), May 3 – Finland’s biggest daily Helsingin Sanomat took on Russian media restrictions in a popular videogame online to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Editor-in-chief Antero Mukka said the newspaper had to get creative when trying to break the restrictions. He decided to conceal articles about Russia’s war in Ukraine, in Russian, in the shooter-game Counter-Strike which is popular among young Russian men.

Russia has tightened its grip on independent journalism after initiating what Moscow refers to as “a special military operations” in Ukraine, which it called neighbouring last year. The country has banned free reporting and refused Russians access media content produced outside.

Helsingin Sanomat published some of its Ukraine-related and Russia-related stories in Russian last January, but the Russians quickly blocked access to their content.

Mukka, a Reuters reporter, told Reuters that “we have been concerned about the situation of press freedom and freedom to speak in Russia. We decided it might be possible to find new channels which could provide Russian audiences with reliable, independent journalism, for example, about the conditions in Ukraine.”

[1/5] Antero Mukka, Editor-in-Chief of the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, presents a secret area within Counter-Strike, where his paper had hidden news in Russian about Russia’s war in Ukraine, in Helsinki Finland, May 2, 2023. REUTERS/Anne Kauranen

Newzoo, a research firm, found that Counter-Strike – released in 2012 by Valve Corporation – is among the top 10 most played PC games around the world.

The paper constructed a map of a war-torn Slavic country, and named it “de_voyna”, which refers to the Russian term “voyna”, meaning war. This word is not allowed in Russia to refer to the conflict that has erupted in Ukraine.

The map is a cover for a secret room in which the newspaper has hidden images and texts that detail the horrors its reporters and photographer witnessed during the war in Ukraine.

Mukka claimed that the newspaper did not ask Valve for permission regarding the campaign because the game allows its users to add and create their own content on its platform.

“If this game causes some young Russian men to stop and think about what is happening in Ukraine for just a moment, it will be worth it,” said he.

Ed Osmond, Ed Kauranen and Anne Kauranen are responsible for the editing.

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