Image: Yle

The investigation request into MV-Lehti was made by a group of political and student youth organisations in an online statement. Deputy Prosecutor General Jorma Kalske has in turn passed on the request to the Helsinki police. Once police complete a preliminary investigation they will decide whether or not to refer the case for consideration of charges.

MV-Lehti has published incendiary, often erroneous and abusive articles over the last year, gaining a large following and contributing to a harsher atmosphere in Finnish public discourse.

The investigation request raises concerns that MV-Lehti may be guilty of offences such as slander. The youth organisations say that the website has permitted the publication of comments that are racist and that threaten individuals' health and lives.

Hanna Huumonen, chair of the student arm of the Social Democratic Party SONK said she hopes that the case will set a precedent.

"We will most certainly see fraudulent media in the future as well. There must be tools to deal with their activities," she added.

Earlier this month nine political youth organisations banded together to urge advertisers to boycott financial support for the website in the form of advertisements. They stressed that MV-Lehti and other similar sites published false news and incited hatred.

The groups represented all of the major political parties except for the Finns Party. Chair of the Finns Party youth wing, Sebastian Tynkkynen, told Yle that he 'hated' MV Lehti. However he said his organisation would not join the boycott in order to avoid drawing more attention to the website.