Kaarel Tarand, deputy chair of the Political Party Financing Surveillance Committee (ERJK), noted the importance of clearly sorting out informative or entertaining content produced in this way, with campaign work, which he referred to as propaganda, not least since a European Parliament election is coming up.

Tarand told ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK): "There needs to be a clear distinction between someone making videos or podcasts explaining to an audience, for instance, Estonia's foreign policy and official activities, and someone conducting specific electoral propaganda on behalf of a minister, candidate or politician."

Communications expert Andreas Kaju meanwhile noted that politicians' active use of social media makes the job of serious journalism both more difficult and more important than ever before.

Kaju told AK: "It is harder since a politician no longer necessarily needs journalism to communicate to an audience. The mediating, redacting role of journalism is thus no longer as central as it was."

However, social media and communicating via "influencers," who often come from a young demographic, meaning it may not always be clear who is influencing whom, should not replace the mainstream media.

On this latter point, Kaju said: "We have to discern that it's not the same thing as journalism. It doesn't even have any common ground with journalism, so one must not substitute the one for the other, under any circumstances."

If politicians ignore the media and communicate directly through digital channels, a key editorial and critical questioning stage is left out, he added.

The issue came to light in particular with a recent trip to India which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded for once such influencer, 21-year-old Karl-Gustav Kurn, who has followers in the range of 18k to 23k on the YouTube, TikTok and Instagram platforms.

Kurn, who has lived most of his life in Finland after his parents relocated there, spoke to ETV current affairs show "Ringvaade" on the topic.

"When we visited, I met with ministers and businessmen, and I felt like a real minister," Kurn said.

The trip to New Delhi last month, for the Raisina Dialogue conference, was not the first of its kind for Kurn, who is a student studying production and scriptwriting in Tampere.

"Last year, I was entrusted by NATO, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union, and thanks to that I've been able to travel the world and demonstrate how these organizations work, bringing their message closer to young people on how it all really takes place. I was chosen from [among people} all over the world to create overview posts about the NATO summit," he added.

Kurn said content creators like himself are finally being taken seriously, and can spread their message to the world.

As for the New Delhi trip, Kurn said: "The reason I was taken to India was to show my followers what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does, and to help people get to know [Foreign Minister Margus] Tsahkna better."

"I present everything under my personal brand. I want to inspire people, be a role model, and bring them quality entertainment. I just do everything really," he went on, and also showcased some of the platforms – such as YouTube and Instagram – that he and other influencers use.

Tsahkna (Eesti 200) himself has an Instagram account; one of the most-watched videos in which he appears included a musical number recorded for International Women's Day together with rapper Nublu, which the minster was joined in by several other leading political figures including Prosecutor General Andres Parmas, Riigikogu Speaker Lauri Hussar (Eesti 200) and MEP Sven Mikser (SDE).

The minister stressed the importance of communicating with as many people as possible on social media, telling ERR he was "not usually someone who looks at ratings or ways to be the most popular."

"We have agreed on certain decisions we came which might not be popular at all, so, I personally don't have that connection with looking at how many 'likes' or whatever someone is getting" Tsahkna said. "What is important is that we're able to communicate with as many Estonian people as possible," he added.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, who joined Isamaa earlier this year after leading the Center Party for several years, said that one should not equate political campaigns with social media content creation.

A politician conducts the same work via social media as they do elsewhere, on a day-to-day basis.

Kurn's February India trip was covered by the foreign ministry to the tune of €3,000, and proved to be fascinating, he said. "You can see monkeys walking around on the streets, the food is delicious, and it's a completely different culture."

Overall, "Content creation is a small job, a hobby that I make a living from," he added.

"Organizations haven't paid me separately to create content for them. They've just offered me the opportunity to open doors, which I've simply walked through," he continued, adding that the foreign minister has so far been satisfied with his work.

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