Freedom of expression and freedom of the media

Participants agreed that freedom of expression and media freedom were good overall in Estonia. They explained that it was safe for journalists to express themselves, but they also considered that selfcensorship might also exist in relation to a journalist's loyalty to their employer. Participants believed that freelance journalists' socio-economic situations were at a disadvantage in the Estonian media business model. A participant called for a fund to be set up to support freelance journalism. Participants believed that journalists stood up efficiently for the protection of press freedom. Participants noted that the Estonian authorities had not expressed much interest in changes to media freedom although it was believed that access to documentation had been considered. Despite an overall good picture, participants agreed that pressure on media freedom had been growing in the last decade through the use of legislation. Some participants believed that some cases of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) existed, which the authorities denied based on the criteria used in Courts in 2022-2023. Participants also shared their concerns that some provisions of the European Media Freedom Act, which introduce additional controls by the authorities on journalistic content, could potentially impact press freedom. Precedents involving misuse of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and copyright legislation were mentioned as examples illustrating such concerns. Participants also regretted that, in their view, judges in the first-instance courts lacked sufficient training in media law. Participants noted a lack of funding for the public broadcaster and independent regional media outlets. Participants mentioned that a hate speech law was being discussed in Estonia. They generally expressed concern over the use of social media to propagate hate speech. A participant believed that Russian propaganda was the biggest issue for Estonian media's trustworthiness and that this propaganda encouraged discrimination against minority groups such as LGBTQI+. Participants considered that the protection of whistle-blowers was very important in a small society where loyalty came before values, and where one could potentially lose one's job and jeopardise relations for reporting abuses in a public way.