Estonia bans public screenings of foreign-dubbed films and series from January

Estonia's parliament has passed amendments to the Language Act, banning public screenings of films, series, and other audiovisual works dubbed into foreign languages. The new rules will take effect in January 2027, affecting cinemas and Russian-language broadcaster ETV+. Violations will carry fines of up to €15,000 for legal entities.

Estonia's Riigikogu has passed amendments to the Language Act that will ban the public screening of films, series, and other audiovisual works dubbed into foreign languages, a move that will affect cinemas and the Russian-language public broadcaster ETV+ alike. The law now awaits proclamation by President Alar Karis.

What the new law says

The amendments were adopted before parliament broke for its summer recess, with 59 MPs voting in favour. Under the new rules, which are set to enter into force in January 2027, all public bodies and local government institutions must conduct their work exclusively in Estonian. Foreign-language dubbing will be permitted only for children's and family films. Content originally produced in a foreign language may still be shown publicly, but must be accompanied by Estonian subtitles, foreign-language subtitles may appear alongside them.

Fines for violations will also rise sharply. For legal entities, the maximum penalty under several provisions will increase from €2,600 to €10,000, while more serious breaches, such as the unlawful screening of an audiovisual work, will carry fines of up to €15,000, up from the current €3,200.

Supporters: clear rules drive motivation

Margit Sutrop, an MP from the Reform Party, argued that firm requirements are the most effective tool for encouraging people to learn Estonian. «Over the past years we have spent €69 million on language training, yet there are still 43,000 people on the labour market who do not speak Estonian,» she said. «We see that people learn the language when they have the opportunity and the necessity. When schools switched to Estonian-medium instruction, hundreds of teachers enrolled in courses. Clear requirements create motivation, so we must stand firm in defending our linguistic and cultural space.»

Critics: fines lack justification

The amendments drew criticism from the Centre Party. MP Vadim Belobrovtsev questioned the rationale behind the new penalty levels. «The maximum fine for a legal entity rises from €2,600 to €10,000, almost 300%. For more serious violations, from €3,200 to €15,000. In some cases the increase is 600%. The problem is that there is no clear or logical explanation for where these figures come from. Without a concrete analysis, it is impossible to understand why exactly these amounts were chosen. Why not €30,000, €50,000, or €100,000? Right now these numbers are insufficiently justified,» he said.

Impact on ETV+

The changes pose a direct challenge to ETV+, Estonia's Russian-language public television channel. Editor-in-chief Ekaterina Taklaya warned that requiring subtitles instead of dubbing would hurt the channel's ratings. «Russian is a language with an enormous number of speakers and a vast amount of content is produced in it worldwide. Just as French, Spanish, or English audiences do not watch television with subtitles in their own language, Russian-speaking viewers are accustomed to voiceover or dubbing,» she said. She also noted that the channel's audience skews elderly: in June, 63% of ETV+ viewers were over the age of 65, making language-learning-oriented measures largely irrelevant to them.

The new Language Act will mark a significant tightening of Estonia's language policy, pushing institutions, broadcasters, and cinemas toward greater use of Estonian while raising the financial stakes for non-compliance.