Climate & Environment · Weather & disasters · 3 outlets (L 1 · C 1 · R 0 · 1 not rated)
Finland opens criminal probe into Google over cleared forest
Finnish police have opened a criminal investigation into possible breaches of the country's environmental laws at the site of a planned Google datacentre in rural northern Finland.[1, 2, 3] The Guardian reported that around 250,000 trees were felled at the site, and described anger in Finland over the clearing.[1]
Al Jazeera reported that Google is investing $15bn in the new data centre project in northern Finland; The Hill put the investment at $1.5 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure.[2, 3] The investigation was opened Thursday and adds to scrutiny of Google's expansion plans in Finland, according to The Hill.[2]
Covered by The Guardian, The Hill and Al Jazeera
Read first Finnish police launch criminal probe over forest cleared for Google data center
Where accounts differ (1)
- Earlier and later reportsAl Jazeera reported Google is investing $15bn in the data centre project, while The Hill reported a $1.5 billion investment in AI infrastructure in Finland.[2, 3]
- Al Jazeera · Not rated · Oct 29, 2:24 p.m. ET Finland launches criminal probe of suspected environmental damage by Google
The US tech giant is investing $15bn in a huge new data centre project in northern Finland.
- The Hill · Center · Oct 29, 4:25 p.m. ET Finnish police launch criminal probe over forest cleared for Google data center
Finnish police opened a criminal investigation Thursday into Google’s work on a planned data center in northern Finland after the company cleared hundreds of acres of forest without completing required environmental…
- Al Jazeera · Not rated · Oct 29, 2:24 p.m. ET Finland launches criminal probe of suspected environmental damage by Google
How balanced is this coverage?
Of the 2 rated outlets that covered it, 1 is left of center, 1 is center and 0 are right of center. 1 more is not rated.
Too few left- or right-leaning outlets to compare: 1 of 42 left-leaning, 1 of 33 center and 0 of 38 right-leaning outlets covered it.
- Left: none.
- Leans left: The Guardian (−0.70).
- Center: The Hill (+0.10).
- Leans right: none.
- Right: none.
Not rated Al Jazeera. Not placed: they have no lean score.
Each dot is an outlet that covered it, placed by its audience-lean score (Eady et al. 2025), which measures who shares its links, not how accurate it is. The ticks under the line are all 113 rated outlets Tare reads.
Read across the spectrum
- Left-leaning Finland launches criminal investigation into Google’s clearing of forest for datacentre site
- Center Finnish police launch criminal probe over forest cleared for Google data center
- Right-leaning No right-leaning outlet in Tare's list covered it.