Why are police in Finland investigating Google's data centre site in Muhos?

Police in northern Finland opened a criminal investigation after authorities said a Google subsidiary cleared about a quarter of a million trees at Muhos and drained the land before environmental impact assessments were complete. Work at a second site about 100 kilometres away was also halted. Google apologised, said it believed it had complied with the law and promised to cooperate. The Guardian's Miranda Bryant told the BBC the episode has done Google enormous reputational damage in Finland.

• Finland has 145 data centres at various stages of planning, and Bryant called this the biggest investment of its kind in the country.
• Local worries include brown streams near the site, noise and higher energy costs, set against jobs for depopulating rural areas.

▸In their words

“It does look like an enormous gaping wound of nature.” Miranda Bryant · at 29:17 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

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