Sunday, February 15, 2026
Recently, I appeared before the House Judiciary Committee
to testify about something I never imagined would define
much of my public life: sharing my Christian beliefs. In 2019, I tweeted my
views on marriage and sexuality, and since then, I’ve been accused of hate
speech and faced criminal prosecution — just for exercising my freedom
of speech.
I did not come to Washington as an activist, but as a sitting
parliamentarian from the democratic nation of Finland. Though my home country claims
to pride itself on free speech, my experience shows firsthand the reality of censorship. I
felt it imperative to warn the United States about the growth of censorship in
Europe — and the global implication of allowing violations of free speech
rights to go unchecked.
I am often told that my story sounds implausible to those
who assume such things cannot happen in a free society. I understand their reaction.
I too asked myself often: How could a single online post of a Bible verse
trigger a 13-hour police investigation and over six years of criminal prosecution?
I never incited violence or targeted any individuals with my post. I simply
shared my deeply held Christian beliefs on Twitter in
a question directed at my church leadership, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Finland, when they decided to participate in a Helsinki Pride event. In
response, I was criminally charged under Finnish law for war crimes and crimes
against humanity. Now, after two previous acquittals, I await a decision from
the Supreme Court of Finland on these charges.
As I told Congress last week, my case concerns whether
citizens may speak openly about faith without fear of prosecution. And it
doesn’t have to be the same faith as mine: Criminalizing peaceful speech
threatens all of us. When the state controls what we’re able to express in
public, democracy becomes weaker.
The reason my story matters, and why I brought it before
Congress, is that, as unbelievable as it may sound to some, there is a
legitimate and rising threat that my experience will become an everyday reality
in Europe. And the fall of free speech in Europe is sure to have global
consequences as well.
Across Europe, we have seen countless instances of
government crackdowns on free speech. In the U.K., an estimated 1,000 people
per month are arrested for their social media posts. Graham Linehan, who testified alongside me before the House
Judiciary Committee, is one such example.
And then there is the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which deeply concerns me as
someone who has endured years of criminal trial for my online posts. The DSA
enforces European-style censorship in the name of “content
moderation” on online platforms, meaning that anyone, anywhere, could find
themselves silenced for peacefully expressing their faith or opinion. As in my
case, vague terms such as “hate speech” are used to set a standard for what
speech is considered “illegal.” The problem with using these terms is that
there is no objective definition to determine what speech is truly offensive.
Though it is my Christian beliefs and my expression that
have been targeted in this ordeal, I am not just standing up for my own right
to speak freely. I am standing up for the principle that anyone in a free and
democratic society has the right to speak freely. We must be free to disagree
and to think differently from prevailing cultural norms.
My story is not an isolated incident. It is a cautionary
tale that risks playing out repeatedly in Europe, and it could very well creep
into America or any other country. But as I closed my testimony, I remain hopeful
for the future of freedom of expression. I fervently wish that Europe and our
democratic partners can be places where every person can speak openly and live
according to their conscience without fear.
What is important now is recognizing the threat before us
and continuing to stand together for free expression. I am grateful for the
warm welcome I received from so many in the United States, as well as for the
commitment to free speech that America embodies. I urge my American friends to
remain vigilant about what is happening across the Atlantic. If Europe’s path
is a warning, the lesson is clear: For a society to claim true freedom, it must
protect the right of every person to peacefully speak their beliefs.
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