Finnish Internet Forum 2026 to explore digital sovereignty and age restrictions on the Internet

The Finnish Internet Forum will be held in cooperation with Parliament’s Committee for the Future on Wednesday 7 October 2026. This year’s agenda focuses on digital sovereignty, the age restrictions on the Internet and the safety of children. Discussions take place against the backdrop of the development of artificial intelligence and its impact on the Internet.

The Finnish Internet Forum will address current issues related to digital sovereignty from the perspective of both society and individuals. Discussions will explore how the changing technological environment and the development of artificial intelligence challenge the existing operating models, regulation and rights. The opening speech will be delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

Opening remarks will be given by Timo Harakka, Vice Chair of the Committee for the Future and Member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party, who will present the Committee’s technology reports. This will be followed by a commentary by National AI Advisor Petri Myllymäki.

The programme includes two panel discussions. The first panel will focus on digital sovereignty and the increasing dependence of societies on global digital services and platforms. Discussion will explore the opportunities for Finland and Europe to strengthen their own capabilities in the changing technological environment. The panellists are Vili Lehdonvirta, Professor of Technology Policy at Aalto University, Elina Ussa, Managing Director of FiCom, Anssi Kärkkäinen, Director General of the National Cyber Security Centre of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, and Martin Paasi, member of the Committee for the Future and Member of Parliament for the National Coalition Party.

The second panel will address the age restrictions on the Internet. Panellists will discuss age verification solutions proposed to protect children and young people and how they can be reconciled with privacy protection, digital rights and opportunities for participation in society. The panellists are Leo Pekkala, Director of the Media Education and Age Ratings Department at the Finnish Arts and Culture Agency, Timo Kiravuo, Cyber Security Researcher at Aalto University, Sari Tuuva-Hongisto, Research Director at the Youth Research and Development Unit at the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) and Tuomas Pulkkinen, Planning Officer at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

The full agenda of the event is available on the Finnish Internet Forum website. The event is by invitation only. If you are interested in attending, please fill in this questionnaire (in Finnish) by 1 October 2026.

You can also follow Parliament’s public webcast of the event.

Join the conversation on social media on the X channel using the hashtag #FIForum.