All questions
Year in review
In the past 12 months, most of the public debate has concerned potential threats to press freedom and freedom of speech in Estonia. Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine has had a considerable impact on the media and entertainment industry.
A controversial judgment was made by the Harju County Court in May 2022, wherein two journalists for Eesti Ekspress and its publisher were fined €1,000 each for publishing a news article revealing the facts of a criminal proceeding. The charges were filed by the Prosecutor’s Office, which claimed that it had not been informed of the publication of the article and argued that the premature disclosure of pretrial information could jeopardise and undermine the gathering of evidence.11
The case of imposing the fines caused heated controversy throughout society, especially given that it happened just one day after Estonia was ranked fourth in the Press Freedom Index. Public debates arose over the imposition of fines, in particular on the issue of whether press freedom in Estonia is actually under threat, in respect of which several statements were made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the former President of the Republic of Estonia, and several politicians and renowned legal scholars. Furthermore, the two major organisations representing both the private and the public media in Estonia issued a joint statement addressing the judgment as a frightening precedent and a serious threat to press freedom.12 The judge who made the respective judgment also commented on the issue as a counter to the somewhat insulting statements in the media that were also addressed to the judge. In his defence, the judge stated that the law is not clear enough on the fining of journalists, that there was no established case law on the issue and that a judge is independent in their decision.13
In June 2022, the fines were overruled by the Tallinn Circuit Court on the grounds that the Prosecutor’s Office failed to elaborate on how the publication harmed the administration of justice in this particular case and that the article served the goal of informing the public. Still, the Court emphasised that permission must be obtained before disclosing pretrial information in the media on the grounds that such publication could harm proceedings if, for instance, an individual who is a suspect in a case is unaware of that status until finding it out via the media.14
The debate reached the Estonian Supreme Court in January 2023. The court stated that although the journalists published data of pretrial investigation for the criminal case without the permission of the public prosecutor’s office required by law, imposing a fine was not justified in this case. The Supreme Court of Estonia noted that the prosecutor’s office must not act arbitrarily when granting or refusing permission to publish data, but must consider on the one hand the public’s interest in obtaining information and on the other the need to solve the crime and protect the interests of the people or companies to whom the data concern.15
The situation has led to several heated discussions between politicians with regard to the question of whether there is a necessity to amend the law concerning media freedoms, but politicians have been clearly divided into two opposite opinions: those who are of the opinion that the legislation needs amending on the matter and those who state that the situation is fine as it is.16 At least in one aspect has a general consensus been found: that the matter needs to be debated thoroughly.
In light of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, several Russian TV channels (and a Belarusian channel) and websites still remain banned. In addition, the entire Estonian film industry has issued a statement addressed to the government to boycott the production and distribution of state-sponsored audiovisual films from Russia and Belarus in Estonia.17 The government has not responded to the statement, and the removal of such content of Russian origin is an initiative of private enterprises rather than as a result of an instruction from the government. Books produced in Russia have also remained in retail stores, mainly for the reason presented by the retail chains that the opportunity for education and development in every language should still be retained in Estonia.18 Still, Russian periodicals have disappeared from newsstands in Estonia as a reaction of the supplier to Russian aggression in Ukraine.19 Furthermore, Estonian government authorities such as the Tallinn City government have created a blacklist of pro-Russian artists who should be banned from entry into Estonia20 to prevent the overall spread of Russian culture and entertainment in Estonia.
In other topics, the media and entertainment industry has been gradually reviving in the past year. In December 2022, the state culture budget was approved for 2023, which foresaw a salary increase for cultural workers for 14.3 per cent and the minimum salary of a youth coach with a higher professional qualification increased by 37 per cent.21
Starting from 1 January 2024, the VAT rate will rise to 22 per cent from 20 per cent in Estonia, prompting widespread debate among press publishers. The VAT rate for press publications will stay at the current rate of 5 per cent for 2024, but starting from 1 January 2025, the VAT rate for press publications will rise to 9 per cent.
Concerning the film industry, in April 2022, the government boosted cultural body Film Estonia’s support for 2022 by €3.4 million, mainly in response to a surge in activity in the film sector following the contraction during the covid-19 pandemic, which brought Film Estonia’s total funding for 2022 to €5.4 million for the purpose of the cash rebate scheme.22 The government has also publicly acknowledged the importance of financing the film industry, which directly supports the overall economy.23
Concerning the same industry, in July 2022, the Walt Disney Company’s Disney+ streaming service was launched in Estonia,24 tightening the race between the streaming platforms, with both local and international platforms competing for viewership.
A dispute was raised by several private broadcasters against public broadcaster ERR on 7 September 2020. According to the Estonian Association of Media Enterprises’ (EML) statement submitted to the European Commission (EC), the funding of ERR’s online news via the state budget harms fair competition. ERR is strongly expanding its online media with the support of state financing, but the private sector will never be able to compete with the state at this financial level.25 However, a (rejecting) decision is expected by the EC as a case concerning a similar unfair competition complaint lodged by Lithuania’s private media companies decided against the Lithuanian public broadcaster.26
In October 2023, the draft law regulating hate speech and hate crimes reached the Parliament and must still pass three readings before a final wording is adopted.