Estonia is the first country where elections will take place after the new EU regulation comes into force. The new regulation requires that political advertisements must clearly show who ordered the ad and which event it is related to.
Estonian Minister of Justice Liisa Pakosta is critical of the new regulation. She says that it does not solve the real problem, which is Russia's influence activities in Estonian elections.
Two months before the elections, party campaign ads are already running, but it is unclear how to comply with the requirements of the regulation. Ad creators, however, are calm. They say that similar rules exist in other fields.
In the spring, media companies said they feared large fines. Therefore, political ads may be abandoned and moved to social media. Google, Meta, and Tiktok have already said they will ban political ads on their platforms.
The executive director of the Media Union, Väino Koorberg, says that this could make the elections invisible. He thinks this is not good for democracy.
Pakosta says that Estonia has no plans to punish violators. Rather, they will advise and inform. Guidelines are available on the website of the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs.
The political advertising regulation will come into force on October 10. Local elections will take place on October 19.