HELSINKI – TikTok has solidified its position as the most important news source for young people in Finland, according to a recent survey conducted by News Media Finland.
The trade association for newspaper publishers reported that the short-form video platform, owned by China’s ByteDance, continues to dominate youth media consumption, a trend that first emerged in 2023.
The survey, conducted in December 2024 by research firm Kantar, revealed that more than half of Finnish teenagers aged 13–18 follow news updates on TikTok.
Alarmingly, 40 per cent of respondents admitted that they receive all or nearly all of their news exclusively from the platform. Despite its growing role as a news distributor, the platform remains primarily used for entertainment and social networking.
News Habits of Finnish Youth
Among the surveyed youth, 37 per cent reported following the news daily, with the figure rising to approximately 50 per cent for those nearing adulthood.
However, the study also highlighted a growing tendency among teenagers to avoid certain news topics.
This avoidance was particularly noticeable among boys, who were more likely to skip news related to wars and global conflicts.
Girls, on the other hand, were also selective but showed a higher likelihood of engaging with sensitive news subjects.
Notably, only a small fraction of respondents—just a few per cent—claimed to completely disregard news media, indicating that young Finns remain engaged with current events despite shifting consumption patterns.
Trust in News and Media Literacy
While TikTok serves as the primary news source for many Finnish teenagers, young people remain cautious about the credibility of content on the platform.
According to the survey, they can generally identify content produced by established news organisations and regard it as significantly more trustworthy than other sources on TikTok.
Furthermore, respondents stated that they find it increasingly easy to determine whether a piece of news is true, especially when evaluating domestic media accounts.
In Finland, nearly all major news outlets maintain a presence on TikTok, adapting their content strategies to reach younger audiences.
However, despite this accessibility, young people exhibit significantly lower trust in the media compared to older generations. The survey found that even the most reliable news outlet was deemed trustworthy by only a little over one-third of respondents.
Hanna Romppainen, a media literacy expert at News Media Finland, emphasised the importance of educating young people about journalism and media consumption.
“The key is to familiarise young people with journalism and teach them to distinguish between different types of media content in their daily social media life.
Thereby, it is possible to strengthen young people’s confidence in their ability to trust responsible media content,” Romppainen stated.
Calls for More Youth-Centric Coverage
Encouragingly, nearly 40 per cent of young people reported feeling that their perspectives are taken into account by the media, marking a 14-percentage-point increase from the previous year.
Despite this progress, respondents expressed a strong desire for more coverage on topics that directly impact them, such as bullying and youth mental health.
With TikTok continuing to shape how Finnish youth consume news, media organisations face the challenge of balancing accessibility with credibility, ensuring that young audiences receive accurate and responsible journalism in the digital age.
This article was created using automation technology and was thoroughly edited and fact-checked by one of our editorial staff members