News Round-Up: US Government Preparing for Covid-Vaccine Court Cases, The Acquittal of Finnish MP Räsänen in Hate Speech Case and Germany Bans a TV Channel
News Round-Up: US Government Preparing for Covid-Vaccine Court Cases, The Acquittal of Finnish MP Räsänen in Hate Speech Case and Germany Bans a TV Channel
Every week, the editorial team of Freedom Research compiles a round-up of news that caught our eye, or what felt like under-reported aspects of news deserving more attention.
Over the past week, the following topics attracted our attention:
Finnish MP Räsänen acquitted in hate speech case.
Vaccine injury lawsuits have started reaching courts in the United States.
Germany bans a conservative TV channel.
Men in women's sports make female athletes give up competing.
Sweden vigorously develops nuclear energy.
Finnish MP Räsänen acquitted in hate speech case
The Helsinki Court of Appeal ruled unanimously on Tuesday that Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish Parliament representing the Christian Democrats and herself a former interior minister, has not engaged in hate speech and incitement to hatred. Bishop Juhana Pohjola of the Finnish Lutheran Church, who was on trial with her, was also acquitted. This was in line with the acquittal handed down by the Helsinki District Court in March last year at first instance and now an appeal by the prosecution against last year's decision was rejected.
Räsänen's hate speech case stemmed from a post she made on the social media platform Twitter on 17th of June, 2019, about the LGBT festival Helsinki Pride 2019, which was about to begin in Helsinki, Finland, on 24th of June of the same year. Räsänen, as a woman of faith and a member of the Lutheran Church of Finland, was disappointed that the church had announced its participation in the event. "How can the church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?" she asked in her post. Underneath, she put a photo extract from Paul's letter to the Romans from the New Testament, where in verses 24-27, homosexual intercourse is called unnatural, a dishonouring of the flesh, and a substitution of God's truth for falsehood. Following a complaint about the post, the police, under the lead of the Prosecutor General, started an investigation. The charge was accompanied by an appearance on Yle Radio on the same subject and a booklet she had already produced in 2004 to oppose gay marriage. This booklet also led to the indictment of Bishop Pohjola, who commissioned it from the Luther Foundation Finland at the time.
Commenting on the acquittal, Räsänen said she was relieved. "I never suspected for a moment that I was guilty of anything illegal in my writings or statements," she said. "I think that this isn't about my opinions, but about the rights of thousands and thousands of Christians to freedom of expression," Räsänen added.
However, Anu Mantila, the prosecutor in the case, criticised the court's decision and said she was seriously considering filing an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Räsänen gave us an interview in the spring of this year, in which she spoke at length about her trial as well as freedom of expression issues more generally. We have also written about Finland's appalling situation with so-called hate speech proceedings here.
Vaccine injury lawsuits start reaching courts in the United States
In last week's news round-up, we wrote about how lawsuits have been filed in the UK against the drug company AstraZeneca over the health damage caused by the company's Covid vaccines, but that similar vaccine-related lawsuits could also be filed in the US – initially against the federal government. In fact, this week the US Department of Justice published a job advertisement seeking eight attorneys to defend the federal government in vaccine injury lawsuits, reports The New York Post. The paper notes that the hiring is prompted by a surge in Covid vaccine lawsuits, as people who were forced to vaccinate by the government under threat of dismissal and then suffered serious health damage as a result of adverse reactions to the vaccine are now seeking compensation.
One such lawsuit was filed against the federal government in October in the state of Louisiana. Among other things, the lawsuit seeks to revoke the immunity over potential vaccine damages granted by the state to drug companies like Moderna and Pfizer. The companies have been able to count on not being held liable for damages from these vaccines thus far. It may not be possible to revoke the immunity, but it is hoped that the lawsuit will force the US Congress to reform vaccine damage compensation schemes that have proved inadequate. As of October this year, 12,775 claims had been filed, but only six people had been compensated. The average amount of compensation has been only $2148 (€1976).
Germany bans a conservative TV channel
Germany's media watchdog, known by its acronym ZAK (Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht), announced on Tuesday that it will ban the Austrian-based alternative TV channel AUF1 from being broadcast on German satellite TV, reports The Daily Sceptic. AUF stands for Alternative Unabhängige Fernsehen or alternative independent television. The content of the channel is comparable to that of GB News, the UK's conservative broadcaster.
Although the ZAK decision is allegedly based on a technical breach, and more specifically it is the Stuttgart-based TV channel SRGT that is now banned from broadcasting AUF1 in Germany, in reality, the technical details are thought to be a mere pretext. The reactions of some political activists show this. For example, Campact, an organisation calling itself a citizens movement that has been leading the campaign to ban the channel for some time, praised the decision and called it a "victory against Right-wing extremism", as well as a “Success against Hate and Fake News on TV.” Of course, Campact also praised itself, stating "Our protest works!".
There have been similar campaigns against GB News in the UK.
Men in women's sports make female athletes give up competing
A female boxer Katia Bissonette withdrew from the 2023 Provincial Golden Glove Championship held at the end of October in Quebec, Canada, after she found out she would have to face a man in the ring. The tournament, organised by the Quebec Boxing Federation, was aimed at giving novices an opportunity to qualify for the Canadian Championship in December. However, the tournament organisers had failed to warn the women in advance that the competitors would include so-called transwomen or men who call themselves women. Bissonette, who works as a psychologist, told Reduxx that she found out the gender of her opponent an hour before she was due to face him in the boxing ring. The man, who goes by the name Mya Walmsley, has no previous record of competing as a woman, suggesting that he has only recently 'identified' as a woman in the sport. With Bissonette's withdrawal, he now won the match without fighting.
Unfortunately, in women's sports, such cases of unfair competition that humiliate women have become quite commonplace. Lynne Pinches, who reached the women's final of the English Pool Association's 2023 Champion of Champions tournament in Wales, refused to compete when she realised that her opponent in the final was actually a man. She conceded, packed up, and just walked away. The women's tournament win went to Chris Haynes, who calls himself Harriet.
In fact, similar problems have already risen even in competitions for secondary school pupils. For example, a boy named Athena Ryan beat 55 girls to win a running race in California last week.
Sweden vigorously develops nuclear energy
Sweden's government, led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, has strongly changed the country's energy policy. Sweden still plans to lower carbon emissions and reach Net Zero by 2045, but no longer with so-called renewable energy. Until June, the country had a plan to generate all the electricity it needs in 2040 from renewable sources, but then this was changed. Now, the goal is to have all electricity produced without the use of fossil fuels by 2040. So instead of oil and gas being replaced by inefficient solar panels and unreliable wind, the bet is on nuclear power.
This week the coalition announced a target to build 10 new nuclear reactors in the country by 2045. As the government wants Sweden to be self-sufficient in energy production and electricity prices to remain affordable for citizens, building electricity generation capacity is essential. Energy demand is also growing steadily, and it is estimated that the country's electricity production will have to double over the next 25 years to meet that.