Managing Director Håkan Gabrielsson of the Federation of the Finnish Media Industry resists the Consumer Ombudsman's view, according to which advertising supplements that come with newspapers should not be delivered to households with "no advertising" signs posted by the mailbox.
According to Gabrielsson, such a ban would violate the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, and it would also contravene the new Freedom of Speech Act.
"We consider the Consumer Ombudsman's view poorly justified and downright impossible from the start, to put it politely", Gabrielsson states.
"Nobody is being forced to receive advertising. The choice is made when deciding to subscribe to the paper."
Federation of the Finnish Media Industry legal department head Valtteri Niiranen points out that the editor of the paper is responsible for the content of the entire publication, including the flyers and advertising inserts.
"The Freedom of Speech Act would be breached, should anyone else try to dictate what may or may not be included in the paper. Commercial material enjoys the same freedom of speech as the editorial material", Niiranen explains.
Håkan Gabrielsson believes the Market Court will ultimately turn down the Consumer Ombudsman's petition. According to Valtteri Niiranen, the Consumer Ombudsman's office have lost their sense of proportion when seeking a Market Court ruling in a matter where the number of appellants is minute compared to the total number of Helsingin Sanomat readers. It is understood that somewhere between 10 and a hundred subscribers have filed complaints.
