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Reports

December 18th - December 24th, 2023 by Otto Tabuns

Estonia Weekly: School System, Languages and Radio

This week there were several posts about the government changing the language of instruction for all schools to Estonian and how this is not possible because the children who attend the Russian schools do not speak Estonian well enough to be able to learn using the language.  This lack of learning Estonian was blamed on the government and how they have failed to integrate more Estonian into the Russian schools.  There were articles written about the former "Russian radio" changing its name to "Super radio" and these changes implied Russophobia.  Several posts also mentioned the corruption of the Estonian government.

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October 30th - November 5th, 2023 by Olevs Nikers

Estonia Weekly: Government Destroying Free Media and the Economy

This week Estonian media outlets and social media commentators were concerned about the economic issues and the strike of Estonian teachers, which was also utilized by the disinformation activists as a chance to address the national policy of transition to only Estonian teaching language in all state funded schools. Very interesting post on Facebook raised the issue of how the Russian speaking population relates to the Russian disinformation campaigns, and found no correlation in this regard. On a pure financial and economic note, the taxation policy of the current government is discussed this week, so arguing that “Kai Kallas' government raises taxes and cuts costs during a recession, the same was done in 2008. during the crisis of the year also the Andrus Ansip government, which led Estonia to a deep economic downturn. Whis comes to the this week narratives, is that it is incorrect to relate Russian speaking population with any kind of Kremlin Propaganda and influence operations; That this is failure of Estonian government successfully to implement the transition to education in Estonian language for the Russian schools; That government does not care about family, their priorities are LGBT rights, language policy, military spending, that State loyal media is not reliable and That current Estonian taxation policies can lead to the same economic effects of 2008 world economic crisis.

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October 23rd - October 29th, 2023 by Olevs Nikers

Estonia Weekly: Language, Culture, and Geopolitical Tensions

This week, social media and news outlets in Estonia concentrated on educational policies, particularly the use of the Estonian language in schools with Russian-speaking students, and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. There was notable attention given to a pro-Palestine demonstration in Tallinn. Discussions also touched upon the significance of Russian culture in Estonia and the potential EU enlargement to include Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, arguing from a financial standpoint that these changes would not benefit Estonia. The narratives conveyed a sense of threat to language rights, misinformation about the Middle East, doubts about the benefits of EU enlargement for Estonia, concerns over the state of freedom of speech and assembly, and a belief in the deep ties between Estonian and Russian cultures.​

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September 11th - September 17th, 2023 by Otto Tabuns

Latvia Weekly: Escalating COVID-19 Conspiracies and Rising LGBTQ Education Fears

COVID-19 remains a topic that is capable of reaching a wider audience and more engagement. In comparison to last week additionally, to the already existing narrative of mandatory vaccines, content relating to various conspiracy theories is introduced. Additionally to COVID-19, content relating to the education of children regarding gender and overall lgbtq issues gained traction. The content both for COVID-19 conspiracy theories and the creation of panic around LGBTQ issues being taught to children came from the same accounts. 

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