DISINFO: The ugly face: why "democratic" Estonia is losing people
SUMMARY
Under the "terrible oppression of the communists" 1 million 567 thousand 749 citizens lived in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic and their number was growing. By the way, this happened not so much at the expense of newcomers, but because large families were in high esteem.
Since independence in 1991 to the present day, the population has decreased to 1 million 338 thousand 68 people.
RESPONSE
This claim is incorrect. According to The White Book: Losses Inflicted on the Estonian Nation by Occupation Regimes compiled by the Estonian State Commission on Examination of the Policies of Repression, the "Repressive measures against the Estonian nation continued during the whole Soviet occupation period, only taking on other forms. One of these forms was the colonisation of the territory of Estonia with the migrant workers for new industrial objects recruited from Russia. When in 1944 Estonians made up 88—90 % of the population, then according to the data of the 1989 census, their percentage had dropped to 61.5 %. In 45 years the number of foreigners had increased to 495,000 via immigration and while the total number of population was 1,566,000, the number of Russian-speaking inhabitants in Estonia was 577,000."
The use of irony ("terrible oppression of the communists") tries to ridicule the true cost of the soviet occupation of Estonia. It has been estimated that as many as 80,000 Estonians were deported between 1945 and 1953. More than 22 000 of them never came home, because they were murdered or died due to inhuman living conditions in imprisonment or in forced banishment. Most of them are buried in graves without names.
As for the claim about being undemocratic, the Freedom in the World Report, World Press Freedom Index or Corruption Perception Index offer a comprehensive overview of the level of democracy in Estonia.
See previous examples of disinformation about soviet occupation of Estonia: Soviet occupation is a myth, Estonian teenagers are infected by Russophobic alarmism and a new wave of migration from the Baltic states will follow after the pandemic.