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Sámi children’s and young people’s right to their own language and culture extends to digital platforms as well. Media education is an essential part of ensuring these fundamental rights, since online communities support sense of belonging and cultural identity. When society discusses screen-time limits and bans on social media, it is important to remember that digital environments are a pathway for Sámi youth to learn their language, maintain their culture, and belong to their community.

The Sámi are the only Indigenous people of the European Union, and their status is recognized in the Constitution of Finland. According to the Sámi Parliament, about 10,000 Sámi live in Finland, while the total Sámi population is estimated to be between 75,000 and 100,000. Three Sámi languages are spoken in Finland: North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi. Sápmi, the cultural region of the Sámi, includes in Finland the municipalities of Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjoki as well as the northern part of Sodankylä, the area of the Lapin paliskunta reindeer herding cooperative. In addition to national legislation such as the Constitution, Finland also has Sámi-specific legislation which applies primarily within Sápmi and provides region-based protections for Sámi language and cultural rights. However, in Finland about two-thirds of Sámi people live outside Sápmi.

Digital agency supports cultural and linguistic rights

Digital communities offer significant opportunities, especially for Sámi children and young people. Sámi culture today lives and develops strongly in digital environments. For example, the Ministry of Education and Culture–funded Sámi languages remote teaching project operates entirely online. In the 2025–2026 school year, remote teaching will be provided to over 190 pupils and students in 45 municipalities and about 120 different schools outside the Sámi homeland. There are also North Sámi–language Minecraft clubs organised online together with Sámi youth in Norway. One background factor in Minecraft’s popularity is Lemet Máhtte Eira Sara, who translated Minecraft Java Edition (14,000 words) into North Sámi in 2019–2020. In Minecraft, it is also possible to visit the Norwegian Sámi Parliament, developed as a learning environment by the University of Agder and Sámi University of Applied Sciences. Finland-wide Sámi Youth’s virtual youth space also operates on Discord.

Many national support services are also available remotely: for example, the Sámi psychosocial support unit Uvjj – Uvjâ – Uvja provides low-threshold Sámi-language and Sámi-culture–based mental health services throughout Finland. In other words, activity across media platforms is closely connected to Sámi children’s and youths’ right to their own language and culture.

Perspectives on strengthening media agency

So far, there is little research focused specifically on Sámi media agency in Finland. According to a doctoral dissertation published in 2021, Sámi media agency strengthens when given space. The dissertation, situated at the intersection of game studies and educational sciences, remains one of the few extensive studies on the topic.

The Finnish Ombudsman for Children’s report on the wellbeing of Sámi children and youth (Weckström, Kekkonen & Kekkonen 2023) does not specifically examine everyday media use. Among the 83 respondents aged 11–17, very few mentioned media use as part of their leisure time, but about 10% listed gaming as a leisure activity. However, the report’s illustrations include children using smartphones, suggesting that media may be such an ordinary part of daily life that it is not mentioned separately. In an earlier report (2008), the respondents wished for Sámi-language newspapers and television and radio programmes, but did not mention other media platforms or gaming at all.

The study Nuoruuden pohjoisin ulottuvuus [The Northernmost Dimension of Youth] (Salasuo, Lehtonen & Tarvainen 2023) examined the experiences of young people in Finland’s northernmost regions. The study included 329 respondents aged 10–19, about one-third of whom identified as belonging to the Sámi community. In this research, everyday “mediatization” was more visible. 65% of the respondents mentioned gaming as a hobby, approaching the figures of the 2022 Finnish Player Barometer: 42% of Finnish 10–19-year-olds play daily and 76% weekly. Among northern youth, 42% play daily and 63% weekly (Salasuo, Lehtonen & Tarvainen 2023).

Gaming is strongly gendered, especially among 15–19-year-olds: 83% of boys report playing online games, compared with 44% of girls. Boys also more actively share and create content and participate more often in public online discussions than girls. Girls, in turn, comment on and like others’ posts and take part in private online discussions more frequently than boys. (Salasuo, Lehtonen & Tarvainen 2023)

Experiences of inappropriate treatment also influence how media education should be targeted. Nearly one-third of children and youth in Sámi-speaking homes report experiencing inappropriate behavior in leisure activities (Salasuo, Lehtonen & Tarvainen 2023). Bullying is more common among those who feel they belong to the Sámi community.

Hearings of the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland also highlighted hate speech directed at Sámi people on social media, including derogatory expressions and belittling of Sámi languages. Despite this, children and youth who identify with the Sámi community report being more satisfied with their lives and free time than other children and youth in the region (Salasuo, Lehtonen & Tarvainen 2023; Weckström, Kekkonen & Kekkonen 2023).

Media education supports Sámi children’s fundamental rights

One of the core tasks of the Art and Culture Agency is to promote media education and safe media environments for children and young people. For Sámi children and youth, supporting media education relates directly to fundamental rights: the right to their own language, culture, community and freedom of expression.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report outlines ways to strengthen the relationship between the Sámi and the Finnish state. The final report states, among other things, that all Sámi children and youth in Finland must have the right, regardless of where they live, to learn and develop their own language and culture, and that the state must ensure cross-border cooperation in Sámi education and training. The new Sámi Parliament Act (414/2025, §9 a) also requires authorities to promote the maintenance and development of Sámi languages and Sámi people’s right and ability to maintain and develop their culture, as well as to reduce the negative impacts their actions may have on these rights.

In practice, supporting community-based media agency means enabling it. In addition to providing support, we must consider the factors that restrict Sámi youths’ right to cultural digital youth. When society discusses restricting digital platform use, it is essential to ensure that bans on social media do not limit Sámi youths’ right to their own language, culture and belonging to their community.

Text: Senior Advisor, PhD Outi Laiti, Art and Culture Agency
Image: Pixabay

References:

Laiti, O. (2021). Old ways of knowing, new ways of playing—The potential of collaborative game design to empower Indigenous Sámi. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-337-249-8

Kinnunen, J., Tuomela, M., & Mäyrä, F. (2022). Pelaajabarometri 2022: Kohti uutta normaalia. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-2732-3

Rasmus, M. (2008). ”Saamelaisuus on kuin lahja”: Saamelaislasten hyvinvointi ja heidän oikeuksiensa toteutuminen Suomen saamelaisalueilla. Lapsiasiavaltuutetun toimiston selvityksiä 1:2008. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021111254985 

Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland. (2025). “I want a better life for my people” : A summary of the proposals given by the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland. Publications of the Finnish Government 2025:100. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-956-4

Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland. (2025). “It’s a constant battle”. The final report of The Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland, Part II, hearings. Publications of the Finnish Government 2025:98. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-984-7

Salasuo, M., Lehtonen, K., & Tarvainen, K. (2023). Nuoruuden pohjoisin ulottuvuus: Tutkimus Pohjois-Lapin seutukunnan ja saamelaiseen yhteisöön identifioituvien lasten ja nuorten vapaa-ajasta ja harrastamisesta [Northernmost Dimension of Youth]. In Nuoruuden pohjoisin ulottuvuus: Tutkimus Pohjois-Lapin seutukunnan ja saamelaiseen yhteisöön identifioituvien lasten ja nuorten vapaa-ajasta (pp. 7–75). Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö. https://doi.org/10.57049/nts.1675

Weckström, E., Kekkonen, K., & Kekkonen, O. (2023). ”I am glad that it is me who gets to study this language, and that it is a part of my culture” : The well-being of Sámi children and the realisation of their rights. Publications of the Ombudsman for Children in Finland 2023:2. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-400-314-8