(originally published: December 19, 2024)

Racism: how can your phone help?

Migrants are often perceived as outsiders, “them”, who are not “us”. This “they-ness” can pop up in people’s minds when they notice some visible features of people around them, like skin color. Being “them” can also mean being worse than “us” (Taylor & Hassan, 2022). In Finland, the worse treatment of people with relatively darker skin can take many forms and racism has been a hot topic of recent public debates. One debate was about how common racism in Finland is and how many resources should be used for its eradication (YLE, 2023; YLE, 2024; Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta, 2024).

There is a mismatch between what some Finns, and especially PS and Kokoomus supporters, think about how prominent racism is and how many migrants and people of color experience it.

According to the 2023 report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Finland ranks as the 3rd most racist country out of 13 European countries surveyed. Governments, political parties or police, for instance, may hide or ignore unequal treatment of people done both by authorities and ordinary people or even treat people of color worse themselves. Still, governments and political parties can refuse to show others some part of social reality, and so it can become invisible for a large group of people in a society. To resist this, people can start showing what happens in society themselves in order to challenge existing inequalities.

Digital technology like mobile phones and social media is very important in doing this because it allows people connect and share their ideas much more easily (Taylor, 2023). Mobile phones allow people quickly record whatever they see themselves and instantly share it with others from different areas of the world. This is one of the important reasons why Black Lives Matter movement became so popular. One of the BLM aims was to show some part of social reality that many white people couldn’t see: police brutality towards people of color in the US. Thanks to recording how police officers acted to people of color and sharing it in social media, this issue became a hot topic in American public and made some people go out for a protest against this.

In Finland, the invisibility of racism can also be challenged by those who record what happens to people of color and share such videos with many others (Oosi & Näveri. 2024). For example, on 12.10.2024 Alaa Altamimi and his friends wanted to go to the Jackie bar where they wanted to listen to their friends’ music band. They and many other people of color couldn’t do this because the bar worker didn’t let them in. Their white friends could pass without problems though. You can read the details about what happened on Alaa’s account. Alaa recorded the incident on his phone camera and sent it to the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman’s office. As a result of this, his video was studied and the head of the unit at their office Robin Harms expressed his concern that the behaviors of both police and the bar worker look problematic and should be studied more thoroughly. Alaa also used his videos to share what happened with YLE journalists, who published ab article about the incident and made it more visible for many people.

Recording Racism 

It’s important to share videos that feature racism respecting others’ rights for privacy and avoiding fines.

The Finnish Data Protection Act (1050/2018) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) determine when someone’s personal info cannot be shared on social media.

Defamation involves spreading false information or insinuations about another person that could cause damage or suffering and is described in Chapter 24, Section 9 of the Criminal Code.

Even true statements can be considered defamatory if they are presented in a manner intended to harm someone’s reputation.

How to record videos when you or someone you know faces racism in Finland:

1. Anonymize Details

• Omit or alter identifying details to protect individuals’ identities.
• Blur a person’s face or other specific details that make a person easily recognizable by others, remove an audio track if someone’s voice is distinctive.
• Do not mention a person’s name or other easily identifiable features even after you have blurred a face or removed an audio.

The example of a video with blurred faces can be seen here.

2. To avoid defamation claims:

• Share information that serves as the evidence of what happened.
• Avoid making evaluating claims about the place wherethe incident has happened. Focus on describing details of what happened and how you felt about it.
• Racist behaviors are very unpleasant so give yourself some time to cool down to avoid posting something impulsively.

How to cite this article (APA style):

Borderlines. (2026, May 26). Recording racism. Available at: https://borderlinesfi.blog/en/2026/05/26/recording-racism/ (Accessed: your date)

References

• EUR-Lex (2024). Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
• European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2023). Being Black in the EU – Experiences of people of African descent. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2023/being-black-eu
• Elinkeinoelaman valtuuskunta (2024). Luurankoja kaapissa – Suomalaiset jakavat yhteisen, mutta kapean käsityksen rasismista. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://www.eva.fi/blog/2024/08/31/luurankoja-kaapissa-suomalaiset-jakavat-yhteisen-mutta-kapean-kasityksen-rasismista/
• Finlex (2024). Tietosuojalaki 1050/2018. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2018/20181050
• Kinnunen, P. (2023). Perussuomalaisten kannattajat suhtautuvat rasismiin selvasti eri tavalla kuin muut – Ylen kysely paljastaa suomalaisten tuntemukset rasismista. Yle. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://yle.fi/a/74-20042221
• Oosi, R. & Näveri, A.  (2024). Ravintola esti tummaihoisen kaveriporukan sisäänpääsyn – poliisi: yritys saa valita asiakkaansa. Yle. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://yle.fi/a/74-20118881
• Taylor, S., and Hassan, I. (2022) ‘Identities’, in Clarke, J., Doyle, Z., Hassan, I., and Woodward, K. (eds) Understanding social lives, part 2. 2nd edn. Milton Keynes: The Open University, pp. 1-44
• Taylor, D. (2023) “The smartphone as a tool for change’, in P. Redman (ed.) Global challenges: social science in action 1. Milton Keynes: The Open University, pp. 47-73.
• Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos (2024). Maahanmuuttaneet kokevat syrjintaa Suomessa erityisesti syntyperän ja etnisyyden perusteella. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://thl.fi/-/maahanmuuttaneet-kokevat-syrjintaa-suomessa-erityisesti-syntyperan-ja-etnisyyden-perusteella
• YLE (2023). Yle survey reveals political divides on racism acceptability in Finland. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://yle.fi/a/74-20042373
• YLE (2024). Poll: Most people in Finland see racism as a minor problem. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://yle.fi/a/74-20108513
• YLE (2024). Poll: Most people in Finland see racism as a minor problem. Accessed: 8 December 2024. Available at: https://yle.fi/a/74-20108513