SSN SNUC UNHRC

MUN

P O S I T I O N
P A P E R

THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA

PROMOTING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

The Republic of Estonia
United Nations Human Rights Council Committee
Promoting Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age
Estonia is a country located in Northern Europe with a
population of approximately 1.3 million people. Estonia is a
limb of the United Nations, the European Union, and
NATO. Estonia has a good history of everyone having the
right to freely disseminate ideas, opinions, beliefs, and other
information by word, print, picture, or other means. Internet
freedom is generally robust in Estonia, a consolidated democracy and European Union (EU) Member State
widely known for its pioneering approach to e-government. Protections for user rights are strong and the
Estonian government places few limits on online content, however, a number of Russian websites were blocked
during the coverage period. Cyberattacks that targeted governmental websites had limited impact, in part due to
countermeasures taken by Estonian cybersecurity officials.

Estonia pledged to put computers in every classroom and by 2000, every school in the country was online. The
government also offered free computer training to 10 percent of the adult population. The effort helped raise
the percentage of Estonians who use internet from 29 percent in 2000 to 91 percent in 2016.
In 2002, Estonia launched a high-tech national ID system. Physical ID cards are paired with digital signatures
that Estonians use to pay taxes, vote, do online banking, and access their health care records.
Another key feature of Estonia’s digital society is e-Residency, a first-of-its-kind initiative that allows
individuals to start businesses in the country without living there. The program serves as a launching pad for
companies looking to do business in the European Union (EU) and benefit from the EU’s single market. More
than 50,000 people from around the world have applied for e-residency since it launched in 2014.
Estonia is making an effort to create a state-of-the-art digital defense system to protect all transactions and
private information, to prevent and block any potential ‘cyber attacks’ which the country could be the target
of, as was the case in 2007 after a Russian attack. The capital Tallinn is also the site of a NATO Cyber Defence
Centre. Estonia ranks 8th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2023, published by World
Press Freedom. Estonia has a high internet puncture with over 94% of the population having access to the
internet. There were 1.22 million internet users in Estonia in January 2022. Estonia’s internet penetration rate
stood at 92.0 percent of the total population at the start of 2022.

Being as practical as possible and providing resolutions to this committee, the Republic of Estonia focuses on
the Estonian Digital Agenda 2030 not only for Estonia but this is applicable for other countries.
Firstly, developing further digital public services, or eGovernment, refers to the use of technology to provide
services to citizens at local, regional, and national levels. They bring many opportunities to both citizens and
businesses: students can apply to study abroad, citizens can open bank accounts online, and workers can file
taxes with the click of a button. Secondly, national cybersecurity enhancement can cope with cyber threats as a
secure and undisrupted digital society, relying on the indivisibility of national capabilities, a well-informed and
engaged private sector, and outstanding research and development competence. Last but not least, improving
connectivity across the country, with a planned budget of around 1.2 billion euros over a year period will be
implemented in Estonia and we urge other countries as well to come up with a resolution like this for the goods,
The vision is to have Estonia full of digital “vägi” (power) characterized by services functioning according to
users' needs, safe digital space, smart solutions supporting everyone, and establishing a fertile foundation for
the creation of future solutions.
 Relevant sources/documents & more about the Republic of Estonia
Lexology: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=aa30fdb7-26dd-4c64-9dbf-3c3f11e4eeed#footnote-101
Freedom House: https://freedomhouse.org/country/estonia/freedom-net/2021
BBVA: https://www.bbva.com/en/digital-impact-age-opportunities
IMF F&D Magazine: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2018/03/trenches
CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/08/how-estonia-became-a-digital-
society.html#:~:text=In%202002%2C%20Estonia%20launched%20a,access%20their%20health%20care%20recor
ds.
UNESCO: https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/global-lessons-estonias-tech-savvy-government
RSF: https://rsf.org/en/index
The New Federalist: https://www.thenewfederalist.eu/the-estonian-model-a-digital-revolution-within-the-
european-union?lang=fr
DataReportal: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-
estonia#:~:text=There%20were%201.22%20million%20internet,percent)%20between%202021%20and%202022.
EUR-Lex: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/estonia.html