In its ruling, published Wednesday, the court found only a physical space can constitute a public place.

The judgment came as part of a case in which a TikTok livestream from January 2024 saw participants using profanity, mockery and insults. A TikTok user watching the stream found this disturbing and reported it to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA).

The offender was fined €240 for disturbing public order.

The Supreme Court annulled the fine and terminated the misdemeanor proceedings. In its ruling today, the court explained that the described act did not constitute a disturbance of public order, since TikTok is not a public place within the meaning of the law.

In the understanding of the Law Enforcement Act, a public place constitutes an area, building, room, or public vehicle which is made available for use by an indeterminate group of people. The explanatory memorandum to the act references examples of this as being public roads, parks, cemeteries, beaches, and commercial or service buildings.

The Supreme Court noted that such wording clearly ties the concept of a public place to physically existing concrete locations and objects. While social media was already in widespread use when the law was adopted in 2011, the legislature, i.e. the Riigikogu, did not consider it necessary to extend the definition of a public place to the online virtual realm, and has not done so since.

The court acknowledged that posts shared on social networks can reach a large number of people, including those with no direct connection to the poster. However, public exposure to a post cannot be conflated with the concept of a public place, the court found. If the legislator wishes to equate social media environments with public spaces, the Supreme Court held, this must be explicitly stated in the legislation.

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