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Type of site | web portal |
|---|---|
| Available in | Estonian,English,Lithuanian,Latvian,Polish,Russian |
| Parent | Ekspress Grupp |
| URL | |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required for unlimited access |
| Current status | Active |
Delfi (occasionally capitalized asDELFI) is a news website inEstonia,Latvia, andLithuania providing daily news, ranging from gardening to politics.[1] It ranks as one of the most popular websites among Baltic users.
Delfi operates in the respective Baltic countries under thedomain namesdelfi.ee,delfi.lv, anddelfi.lt. Aside from versions in theEstonian,Latvian, andLithuanian languages, the company offersRussian-language versions of its portal in all three countries. On 12 March 2012, Delfi started a Polish version underpl.delfi.lt. A year later an English version was added underen.delfi.lt.
In March 2014, the delfi.ua website was closed.[2]
In February 2016, most of the delfi.lt English-language content was placed behind apaywall to restrict access to most articles without a paid subscription, as the articles in this version of Delfi are supported by theLithuania Tribune, which raised questions on implementing the paywall there.[3] Other language editions followed later on.[when?]
Delfi was established in 1999 by the Estonian companyMicroLink and sold in 2003, to theNorwegian companyFindexa.[4] In 2007, Estonian media groupEkspress Grupp acquired 100% of Delfi stocks for €54m.[5] It operates under a single name in the threeBaltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and also inUkraine. It has its own bureau inMoscow,Kaliningrad,Warsaw, andStockholm. It also sources its news reports from theBaltic News Service and from wire services.[1]
Because visitors of Delfi can anonymously comment on all news articles, the site generates debates overfreedom of speech in the Baltic States. Some members of the Estonian and Lithuanian parliaments have proposed laws making Delfi and other news portals responsible for the contents of anonymous comments.[6][7] In September 2006, attorneys forArtūras Zuokas, mayor ofVilnius, asked public prosecutors to seize Delfi servers and reveal theIP addresses of all anonymous commentators who have written comments about him in several Delfi publications.[8][9]
In June 2015, theEuropean Court of Human Rights ruled inDelfi AS v. Estonia that holding delfi.ee responsible for its readers' comments did not violate theEuropean Convention on Human Rights' protection of freedom of speech.[10][11]
Since 2018, Delfi has been a bronze patron of theUniversity of Latvia Foundation. Support is granted to the university's students of Communication Science of the Faculty of Social Sciences, as well as other students of Communication and Journalism in all Latvian higher education institutions. In 2018, the first scholarships in the amount of 10,000 EUR were awarded. Delfi is an internet partner and supporter of the social scholarship Ceļamaize 2009.[12]