Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa Pakosta spoke Wednesday on ERR's "Otse uudistemajast" webcast about regulating artificial intelligence, protecting children's rights, safeguarding privacy, reducing bureaucracy, restricting overly powerful electric scooters, sex offender registries and the future of her party, Eesti 200.
The global push to regulate AI
Pakosta compared the challenges posed by artificial intelligence to those associated with nuclear energy, stressing the need for international regulation.
"Broadly speaking, the situation is more or less the same as with nuclear energy. Nuclear energy has positive aspects, but it also has the potential to cause catastrophes. And although it took some time in that case, from August 1945 until 1970, to establish international rules, we need to move faster here. We don't have that many years," she said.
Pakosta outlined three areas Estonia wants to prioritize in international AI regulation.
"First, we have proposed that the most harmful impacts of artificial intelligence should be treated as crimes against humanity. We already have that entire framework in place and we would extend it to cover AI's extremely harmful and destructive capabilities," she said.
Second, Estonia must ensure its digital infrastructure does not become dependent on technology controlled by foreign providers.
"We cannot build the Estonian state around AI solutions when someone in a third country could suddenly decide not to provide them to us or to add two zeros to the price, for example. This has become a matter of national sovereignty, which means that AI systems with a significant impact must have open-source options that we can build our services on," Pakosta said.
Her third priority is protecting smaller languages and cultures in major AI systems.
"Large systems must be required to include small languages and cultures. This is something we are genuinely fighting for. Otherwise, the Estonian language and culture will disappear from the world," she said.
Pakosta also warned that Russia is deliberately financing automated online activity to influence the information used by AI systems.
"Russia is deliberately using and funding bots to ensure that its interpretation of imperialist history and everything associated with it is represented in AI systems, while Estonia's perspective is not," she said.
"Russia is not only destroying cultures with bombs on Ukrainian territory; it is also destroying our culture, our narratives, our stories and our identity in AI environments."
The minister warned that younger generations increasingly rely on AI rather than history books for information, making such manipulation a potentially effective investment for Russia.
She called for international agreements requiring AI systems to incorporate safeguards against disinformation and the distortion of historical narratives.
Pakosta also defended digital regulation, arguing that clear rules encourage rather than hinder innovation.
"When you have clear rules, you can build innovation around them. And businesses actually support this, too," she said, pointing to Estonia's experience with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.
Businesses investing heavily in AI need predictable regulations to protect their investments, she added.
Another priority is developing sovereign AI solutions to protect Estonian residents' personal information.
"There are some very impressive large models in third countries, but we don't know exactly how our data moves through those systems. We don't know exactly what happens to that data afterward," Pakosta said.
She emphasized that Estonia has made a fundamental decision not to use AI for surveillance activities that would otherwise be considered unacceptable.
"We have decided not to use AI to surveil people in ways that technology makes possible but that we would not otherwise do as human beings. That is a very fundamental decision," she said.
Estonia currently uses AI in approximately 260 public sector services, relying on public or non-sensitive information, according to the minister.
As an example of locally developed technology, she highlighted an Estonian legal advice service that automatically deletes sensitive personal information entered by users seeking assistance.
Protecting children
Turning to children's rights, Pakosta discussed legislative proposals being prepared by her ministry based on research conducted under the Mudila project.
The goal is to make it easier for parents and others to find assistance for children, something she described as currently "terribly complicated."
"This is not just about preventing crime. That is only a very small part of it. It is about the broader question of how, in a small, lovely country like Estonia, we can make sure help reaches every child," she said.
Pakosta said the aim is to prevent children from falling through gaps between different services and ensure they receive help as early as possible, potentially immediately after birth.
Containing red tape
On reducing bureaucracy, the minister said Estonia has made substantial progress, introducing a "one in, one out" principle in lawmaking and repealing or simplifying nearly one-fifth of legal acts.
She also highlighted efforts to prohibit the practice of "gold-plating" EU legislation where additional domestic requirements are attached to European rules.
According to Pakosta, this practice has allowed extra regulations to pass through the Riigikogu without sufficient democratic scrutiny.
"We have been successful both in Estonia and in Brussels in not only putting an end to this insane proliferation of bureaucracy, but actually beginning to reduce it," she said.
Illegal electric scooters
Discussing police proposals to confiscate electric scooters exceeding legal power limits, Pakosta acknowledged that legislative changes would be necessary but said they should follow public debate.
She raised the example of parents purchasing excessively powerful scooters for their children, potentially endangering both the children and other road users.
"The parent is putting the child's life at risk, but also endangering other people, including pedestrians. Would the right solution be to fine the parent? That would lead to enormous disputes, with parents saying, 'No, I only bought it for myself to ride somewhere on an off-road track and my child secretly took the scooter. I'm not to blame.' After all, we cannot really punish a younger child, and rightly so. Or do we place greater emphasis on protecting not only the life of the child, for whom the parent is responsible, but also the lives of other road users?
This is where society needs to discuss how to strike the right balance," she said.
Private offender lists
Pakosta also addressed controversy surrounding a privately created registry of sex offenders and domestic abusers launched at ettevaatust.ee by content creator Mallu Mariann Treimann-Legrant and her husband, Tomas Märten Legrant.
She encouraged people to report problems with existing government registries, saying Estonia has the most transparent and accessible criminal records registry among democratic countries.
She warned that privately maintained criminal records databases can contain inaccurate information, cause lasting harm to innocent people and victims and create a false sense of security.
"That registry contained around 400 people, but our national criminal records registry actually contains more than 11,000 people who are prohibited from having contact with children," she said.
The minister also announced that the government was expected to consider legislation Thursday extending the time available for victims of childhood sexual offenses to report crimes.
Currently, such offenses become time-barred when the victim turns 28. For the most serious offenses, the proposed amendment would extend that deadline until age 50.
"Victims need time to gather themselves, process what happened and report to the police that such a vile crime was committed against them," Pakosta said.
Sensitive health data
On medical privacy, Pakosta discussed a bill already before the Riigikogu that would allow investigative authorities to obtain certain medical information during criminal proceedings, subject to court authorization and strict conditions.
She emphasized that investigators would only be permitted to access technical descriptions of injuries, not patients' personal accounts of how those injuries occurred.
For example, authorities could obtain information about the depth of a knife wound or the path of a bullet, but not statements a patient made about a domestic dispute or other circumstances.
"People must be able to tell their doctors openly and honestly what actually happened. That is essential because it is the only way a doctor can properly treat them," she said.
Hospitals and doctors would use a separate form to ensure that patients' accounts are not passed to investigators.
Pakosta also stressed that competent, sober adults who are not under guardianship would retain the right to refuse such disclosures and investigations, citing the privilege against self-incrimination. Different rules would apply to children, while exceptions would also exist in cases of suspected fraud by doctors or patients.
Eesti 200 and elections
Turning to politics, Pakosta declined to reveal her views on the future of Eesti 200, saying decisions rested with the party's board, of which she is not a member.
Her comments followed Sunday's decision by Eesti 200's council not to pursue a merger with the Estonian Greens ahead of the Riigikogu elections.
Nevertheless, Pakosta expressed support for party mergers, arguing that smaller parties can strengthen their influence and broaden their representation by joining forces.
"All the major parties we have today were formed from several parties coming together. There is nothing bad about it. In fact, it is entirely positive," she said.
She argued that parliamentary parties need sufficient size and geographic reach to represent voters effectively, including strong connections with local governments.
Although Eesti 200 has rejected a merger for now, Pakosta said she believes one will eventually take place.
Asked whether she would run in the next Riigikogu elections, Pakosta said the question was premature, noting that Eesti 200 had not yet decided whether it would participate.
"There are a whole range of other issues that I also feel very passionate about. It is not just politics," she added.
Pakosta also declined to express a preference on whether Eesti 200 should participate in the elections, saying she did not want to pressure the party's leadership.
She concluded by defending politicians across party lines, emphasizing the personal sacrifices and hostility that often accompany political work.
"I have seen how difficult it is to work as a politician. No matter which party you belong to, it is very difficult. You face a great deal of hostility, even physical attacks," she said.
"I respect every person who is willing to devote their time to participating in Estonian politics and doing this difficult work. Every person who does this work deserves respect."
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