The trio, jailed on Friday on suspicion of revealing a security secret, took to social media to tell their followers that the world is engaged in a top-secret, underground "tunnel war", which is also being waged by secret actors. The trio made it their mission to find out what was going on.
Niko Pyrhönen, a researcher specialising in conspiracy theories, told STT on Friday that he believed the trio were inspired by some of the conspiracy theories circulating in the US. However, he said it was an "exceptionally original" story.
However, somewhere along the way, Mikko Antero Vapa, 45, Marko Heikki Vapa, 45, and Anne Maria Oikarinen, 37, apparently revealed something sensitive because it led to their imprisonment.
STT exceptionally publishes the names of the suspects already at the pre-trial stage, as they are suspected of treasonable offences under the Criminal Code while they were candidates in the parliamentary elections.
I understand that they are also talking about tunnels that actually exist and are related either to Finland's security of supply plans or to civil protection. I don't know whether they may have accidentally revealed something that is classified or whether they have done so deliberately," Pyrhönen wondered.
I've watched their videos and they have been in different places, but I can't judge how far they have travelled in Finland. It could be that they have received tips from their audience on where to go to see.
"Small-scale operators"
In one of their YouTube videos, for example, they said they had seen with their own eyes in northern Finland a "tunnel whose entrance was guarded by reservists".
From Helsinki you can at least get to Ivalo (approximately 681.64 miles) via the tunnel, (and) all the tunnels lead to the world's parliament buildings, they claim.
Pyrhönen believes the group was a small circle of actors with some hundreds of followers. Some, though, may have watched the videos in a whimsical way.
Conspiracy theories are alive and well, and they are constantly evolving, so they change," says Pyrhönen.
For example, you can announce that something significant will happen on a particular day, and then when it doesn't, you come up with an explanation. They also take content from the news cycle and constantly try to show that the things they say in the news are connected to their theories.
The trio, jailed on Friday on suspicion of revealing a security secret, took to social media to tell their followers that the world is engaged in a top-secret, underground "tunnel war", which is also being waged by secret actors. The trio made it their mission to find out what was going on.
Niko Pyrhönen, a researcher specialising in conspiracy theories, told STT on Friday that he believed the trio were inspired by some of the conspiracy theories circulating in the US. However, he said it was an "exceptionally original" story.
However, somewhere along the way, Mikko Antero Vapa, 45, Marko Heikki Vapa, 45, and Anne Maria Oikarinen, 37, apparently revealed something sensitive because it led to their imprisonment.
STT exceptionally publishes the names of the suspects already at the pre-trial stage, as they are suspected of treasonable offences under the Criminal Code while they were candidates in the parliamentary elections.
I understand that they are also talking about tunnels that actually exist and are related either to Finland's security of supply plans or to civil protection. I don't know whether they may have accidentally revealed something that is classified or whether they have done so deliberately," Pyrhönen wondered.
I've watched their videos and they have been in different places, but I can't judge how far they have travelled in Finland. It could be that they have received tips from their audience on where to go to see.
"Small-scale operators"
In one of their YouTube videos, for example, they said they had seen with their own eyes in northern Finland a "tunnel whose entrance was guarded by reservists".
From Helsinki you can at least get to Ivalo (approximately 681.64 miles) via the tunnel, (and) all the tunnels lead to the world's parliament buildings, they claim. Pyrhönen believes the group was a small circle of actors with some hundreds of followers. Some, though, may have watched the videos in a whimsical way.
Conspiracy theories are alive and well, and they are constantly evolving, so they change," says Pyrhönen.
For example, you can announce that something significant will happen on a particular day, and then when it doesn't, you come up with an explanation. They also take content from the news cycle and constantly try to show that the things they say in the news are connected to their theories.
https://www.sss.fi/2023/04/helsingista-paasee-tunnelia-pitkin-ainakin-ivaloon-turvallisuussalaisuuden-paljastamisesta-epailty-kolmikko-vaitti-videoillaan/