Better Internet for Kids

Here, we take an in-depth look at the latest monitoring information for Estonia.

In Estonia, the BIK+ strategy and related coordination mechanisms at the EU level, such as the work of the European Commission’s Safer Internet expert group, have been followed and have influenced the development of the national child protection system, including services for victims of abuse. The BIK/BIK + strategy goals are also reflected and included in the educational and youth policy strategy documents and in corresponding development plans.

BIK policies

Policy design asks whether evidence and research support BIK-related policies and whether systems are in place for monitoring and evaluating those policies.

Policy frameworks

Policy frameworks describe the overarching approach for a better internet, and establish the underlying goals, principles and guidelines that shape individual policies within this area.

In Estonia:

• This topic is an important and emerging policy priority with children’s online protection, digital empowerment, and digital participation partially covered in national/regional laws, regulations and policies.
• There are separate, dedicated policies which address the topic of children and the digital environment (protection, empowerment, and participation)
• The BIK+ strategy informs national policies but is not the main influence.
• Children’s rights in the digital environment are implied rather than explicitly recognised in policies regarding children and the digital environment.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on key national policy frameworks in Estonia.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

Policy design

Policy design asks whether evidence and research support BIK-related policies and whether systems are in place for monitoring and evaluating those policies.

• Quantitative data on some aspects of children’s digital activity is collected regularly as part of broader surveys.
• Some but not all aspects of children’s experiences of risks, harms and digital well-being are included in regular surveys.   
• There is no system in place at the government level to gather information on children and the digital environment.
• Existing national research funding is available for research on children and the digital environment, but this is not explicitly specified.
• Monitoring and evaluation of national policies on this topic is ad hoc, infrequent and not systematic.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on recent national research studies in Estonia.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

Policy governance

Policy governance examines how policies are coordinated at the governmental level, whether other implementation bodies are involved in their delivery, and whether structured mechanisms are available to guide their implementation. 

• Policy development sits across different ministries with leadership distributed according to the area of specialisation.
• Coordination happens more informally across the different departments and entities that contribute to government policies, guidelines, and programmes regarding children and the digital environment.
• Government policy has yet to be developed into an implementable action plan at this point, but this is under development.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on key policy governance mechanisms in Estonia.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

Stakeholder involvement

Stakeholder involvement enquires how different stakeholders can participate in policy development. Children’s involvement in policy-making is one such key issue. Additionally, international knowledge exchange about children's digital participation is also relevant to this topic. 

• Various ad hoc multistakeholder groups exist across different branches of government, in which stakeholders may contribute to policy deliberation and development.
• Members of the public are consulted only when new policies are being developed.
• Children’s interests are considered indirectly (e.g., through analysis of existing surveys and data collections).

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on crucial stakeholder involvement mechanisms in Estonia.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

BIK+ actions

Pillar 1 – safe digital experiences

Safe digital experiences refer to actions taken to protect children from harmful and illegal online content, conduct, contact, and risks as young consumers and to improve their well-being online through a safe, age-appropriate digital environment created in a way that respects children’s best interests.

Implementing EU laws

• The European Commission, in cooperation with the European Board for Digital Services, is currently developing guidelines for online platforms to ensure a high level of minors’ privacy, safety, and security. The Estonian Digital Services Coordinator contributes to this work through the European Board for Digital Services. It would be unnecessary to duplicate such guidelines on the EU and national levels. Thus, Estonia has decided to wait for the Commission’s guidelines, which will be issued under article 28(4) of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Harmful online content

• While there is no general and all-inclusive term for harmful online content, paragraph 25 of the Child Protection Act contains a ban on manufacturing, showing and disseminating to children printed matter, films, audio and video recordings and objects that promote violence or cruelty.
• Estonia’s Media Services Act Art. 19 states: The media service provider must not transmit programmes which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of minors, in particular programmes that involve pornography or promote violence or cruelty.
• The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority has the right to request restriction of information society services if the information disseminated to the public through information society services incites hatred, violence or discrimination based on nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion or other circumstances.

Harmful online conduct

• National/regional laws, regulations or policies are in place to protect children and young people from intimate image abuse, or the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
• According to Penal Code paragraph 178, it is illegal to create, obtain, store, handle, display, or share any pornographic material depicting a person under eighteen or in an erotic situation under fourteen. Additionally, the Penal Code prohibits the unauthorised transmission of personal data that can identify another person (Art. 157'2).
• Regarding cyberbullying, the Violence Prevention Agreement 2021 - 2025 covers the prevention and combating of various forms of interpersonal violence. The agreement is based on the country's long-term strategies, ‘Estonia 2035’ and ‘Basic principles of criminal policy until 2030.’ One of the main focuses is the prevention and intervention of violence against children, including violence in digital environments.

Age verification

• Estonia’s Media Services Act Art. 191 states: The video-sharing platform operator prescribes in the terms of use of the service that at the beginning of such programme, user-generated video and commercial communication that may impair the physical, mental or moral development of minors, a warning must be presented in a manner understandable to the viewer stating that the subsequent program is unsuitable for minors, and a relevant symbol about the unsuitability of this programme to minors or some age groups of minors must be seen on the screen during the whole programme, video or commercial communication.
• According to the Identity Documents Act, an Estonian citizen under the age of 15 does not have to have an identity card. An ID-card can be used to log in to e-services, such as an online bank, e-Kool (e-school). While there has been discussion on the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI), no decision has been taken on its implementation.

Commercial content

• Estonia has transposed pertinent EU consumer protection directives, e.g., the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. However, the national legislation does not particularly focus on better protecting children online.
• The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority has developed guidelines for social media advertising.  This guidance is non-statutory.
• The Estonian SIC project ‘Targalt internetis - Smartly on the Web’ has developed together with Tartu University and the Telia Eesti project ‘Digimentorid’ educational resource for schools, which also includes information about social engineering, commercial algorithms and how they influence users’ behaviour.

Mental health and well-being

• Help and advice are provided by the child welfare service Lasteabi via phone 116 111 or via its website. The service is funded by the Social Insurance Board. If necessary, the person in need of help is referred to the services of a psychologist or psychiatrist. For help, it is also possible to contact the child welfare department of the municipality of residence, which can refer the child in need of help to the necessary service.

Pillar 2 – digital empowerment

Digital empowerment incorporates actions so that all children, including those in vulnerable situations, acquire the necessary skills and competences to make sound choices and express themselves in the online environment safely and responsibly.

Supports for online safety education

• In the national curriculum of Estonian Elementary and High School, one of the general competences is digital competence, which is defined as the ability to: find and store information using digital tools, evaluate its relevance and reliability; participate in digital content creation, including the creation and use of text, images, multimedia; use suitable digital problem-solving tools and methods; communicate and cooperate in different digital environments; be aware of the dangers of the digital environment and know how to protect one’s privacy, personal data and digital identity; follow the same moral and value principles in the digital environment as in everyday life.
• According to the Act on Elementary and Secondary Schools, the school ensures the students' mental and physical safety and health protection during their stay at the school. According to the aforementioned law, the school has rules of procedure, which the principal establishes. The school's rules of procedure and amendments are submitted to the school's board of trustees and the student council for an opinion before being established.
• The field is managed by the Ministry of Education and Research and its implementing agency, the Education and Youth Board. Youth work and youth associations operating as umbrella organisations in the field are important partners for the Ministry in managing youth work.

Digital literacy skills to empower young people

• In the National Curriculum for basic school and for upper secondary school, digital competence is a cross-cutting subject. Digital competence includes the ability to use developing digital technology for coping in a rapidly changing society for learning, acting as a citizen as well as communicating in communities; to use digital means for finding and preserving information and to evaluate the relevance and trustworthiness of the information; to participate in creating digital content; including creation and use of texts, images, multimedia; to use suitable digital tools and methods for solving problems, to communicate and cooperate in different digital environments; to be aware of the dangers of the digital environment and know how to protect one’s privacy, personal information and digital identity; to follow the same morals and values in the digital environment as in everyday life.
• ‘Information environment and media use’ is an overarching subject of the basic school national curriculum. The goal is to develop students into conscious, analytical individuals who understand their information environment, critically analyse media content and sources, recognise authorship, create high-quality media, and act responsibly and safely in their interactions.
• Media Literacy Week is held every year under the coordination of the Ministry of Education and Research, within the framework of various institutions that organise educational and informational events to promote digital literacy.
• In the framework of the Estonian SIC project Targalt internetis, a CyberEscape Room Creativity Competition was carried out in 2024.

Pillar 3 – active participation, respecting children’s rights

Active participation, respecting children’s rights, refers to actions which give children and young people a say in the digital environment, with more child-led activities to foster innovative and creative safe digital experiences.

Active participation

• The youth information portal Teeviit is a nationwide youth information service for youth aged 7-26, organised by the Youth and Internationalisation Department of the Education and Youth Board. Teeviit collects and disseminates information on education, learning, work, career, relationships, mental and physical health, the environment and society through its website and social media channels. Information can be found in articles, news, video, podcast and webinar formats.
• The Digital Mentors Initiative is a programme developed in collaboration with the University of Tartu and Telia, which aims to develop the digital skills of young people and adults. The programme invites children/students to become digital mentors for younger children/students, as well as elderly people. 

Supporting children’s rights

• The Estonian Police and Border Guard Board is conducting the Internal Security Fund project ‘Prevention of online sexual abuse of children (2023-2027)’, which includes support for children’s rights.
• The child-friendly version of the European Strategy on Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) in Estonian is available on the website of the Estonian Safer Internet Centre (SIC).

Digital inclusion

• According to the law, quality general education must follow inclusive education principles and be equally accessible to all children, regardless of their social and economic background, nationality, gender, place of residence or special needs. More than 60 speakers of different languages from many countries study in Estonian schools. All children who move to Estonia must be offered a high-quality education and guaranteed equal treatment, the right to learn the local language and to preserve their home language.
• In organising youth work, municipalities and the state act as partners. The state provides a legal framework and supports municipalities in developing priorities and services, with local government being the main organisational level. Youth work focuses on allowing young people to choose activities, connect with peers, and gain experiences in belonging and cooperation. It is centred around the interests and needs of the youth, creating a safe environment for them to explore their abilities.
• Since 2017, the state has been supporting local governments with additional funds under Section 15'1 of the Youth Work Act so that a larger number of young people, regardless of their background, have access to hobby activities and hobby education. The aim of the additional state support is to improve the availability of informal education, which means hobby education and activities, and to offer young people more diverse participation opportunities. Digital technology is one of the topics of hobby education and activities.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for some best practice examples from Estonia.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

BIK+ index 2025: Estonia

The BIK+ index has been developed to provide an aggregated at-a-glance overview of the levels of implementation across the two dimensions, BIK policies and BIK+ actions, in Estonia compared to the EU27+2 average. Values are shown in per cent.

Please note, the data used in this page and the corresponding country profile was collected in February 2025.