Interneti Päev 2018 (Estonia’s 4th Internet Day) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

The 4th Interneti Päev met on 29 March 2018 at Tallinn's Kultuurikatel under the theme 'Young people vs robots — out of the fairy tale!', asking whether IoT, bitcoin, self-driving cars, blockchain, AI and Generation Z are real or a blend of marketing, tech-euphoria and wishful thinking.
Funderbeam founder Kaidi Ruusalepp and peers reality-checked the buzzwords; the government's digital-innovation adviser Marten Kaevats and lawyers tackled robot law — what is allowed to humans but not to robots; and a schoolteacher, a 10th-grader and Estonia's web constable dissected the 'like' economy, with a crypto party to close the night.
Robot taxes and automation-versus-jobs were the global arguments of 2018 — and putting an actual student on stage anticipated the youth-participation push national IGFs everywhere now pursue.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Interneti Päev 2018 (Estonia's 4th Internet Day) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	Interneti Päev 2018 (Estonia's 4th Internet Day)
Edition	The official page states this was 'already the fourth' edition (the first was 2015); the catalogue's former 'first edition' tag was wrong
Dates	29 March 2018
Venue	Terrace Hall of the Kultuurikatel (Tallinn Creative Hub), Põhja pst 29, Tallinn
Theme	Theme: 'Noored vs robotid – muinasjutust välja!' (Young people vs robots — out of the fairy tale!)
Host	Organised by the Estonian Internet Foundation (Eesti Interneti SA); programme curated by Karmen Turk, Peeter Marvet, Linnar Viik, Henrik Roonemaa, Anto Veldre, Birgy Lorenz, Heiki Sibul, Maarja Kirtsi and the EIS team

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. IoT, Bitcoin, AI — Fairy Tale or Today's Reality?

Sessions: 'IoT, bitcoins, self-driving cars, blockchain, AI — a fairy tale?!' (10:05–11:25; Funderbeam founder and CEO Kaidi Ruusalepp, IT visionary Linnar Viik and TTÜ network-software professor Tanel Tammet, moderated by Henrik Roonemaa of Geenius.ee)

Are the technologies said to change the world '100% and now' real, or a blend of marketing, tech-euphoria and wishful thinking? A fintech founder, a visionary and a computer scientist sorted hype from substance [1][2]
Holding a sober reality-check at the height of the crypto/blockchain bubble — hosted by the national domain registry — captured the edition's character [1][2]

2. Robot Law — What Is Allowed to Humans but Not to Robots?

Sessions: 'What is allowed to humans is not allowed to robots!' (11:30–12:45; State Chancellery digital-innovation adviser Marten Kaevats, state-aid and competition-law expert Evelin Pärn-Lee and Omniva chairman Joona Saluveer, moderated by attorney Karmen Turk of Triniti)

Is software a robot? Do robots need holidays? Tax the company that replaces workers — or the robot itself? A government adviser, a competition-law scholar and the postal chief mapped the legal space robotics demands [1][2]
The parable of the virus-ridden fridge-bot attacking the prime minister's smart toaster — and who decides to switch it off — exposed the gaps in jurisdiction and liability [1][2]
Fears of job losses were addressed head-on, answered by the company (Omniva) actually automating logistics [1][2]

3. The 'Like' Economy and the Young — The New Currency of the Information Society

Sessions: 'To like or not to like, that is the question' (13:30–14:40; teacher Astrid Sildnik of the Estonian Teachers' Union, 10th-grader Kärt Heinvere of Pelgulinna Gymnasium and police web constable Maarja Punak, moderated by Dr Birgy Lorenz of TTÜ's cyber-education projects)

Is online fame measured in likes the currency of young lives? Does a shortage of likes dent self-esteem? Is the person in the picture really that happy? A teacher, an actual 10th-grader and the police web constable debated it together [1][2]
Dangerous phenomena of the moment — 'Blue Whale'-style communities, violent uploads, compulsive self-exposure — were examined concretely, without moral panic [1][2]

4. The Data Experiment and the Crypto Party — Whose Data Is It Anyway?

Sessions: 'Experiment ;)' (14:40–15:10; Tanel Mällo of the MyData network / Aalto University and Peeter Marvet, zone.ee resident hacker and data-protection officer) plus the evening 'Internet Evening, a.k.a. Crypto Party' at K-Space

A live experiment asked: have you ever considered what data you have left with companies — and is it yours or theirs? — making data ownership tangible two months before the GDPR applied [1][2]
Pairing a MyData movement organiser with the registrar's resident hacker addressed data sovereignty from principle and practice at once [1][2]
The evening crypto party turned the rights debate into hands-on encryption skills [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did this meeting decide?

A. Nothing binding — it was the fourth annual open dialogue day run by the .ee registry foundation, free and in Estonian.

Q. What stood out?

A. An actual 10th-grader debating the 'like' economy alongside a teacher and the police web constable — talking with young people rather than about them, back in 2018.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Robot taxes, automation and jobs, and children's social-media pressures are still live controversies everywhere — and the sober sorting of crypto/AI hype at bubble peak remains a model of level-headed debate.

What Is Estonia IGF? (for first-time readers)

Estonia IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2018 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.