Dutch internet community protests against censorship proposal

By EDRi · September 22, 2010

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: [Niederländische Internet-Gemeinschaft protestiert gegen staatliche Zensur-Pläne | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2198]

Dutch civil society, companies, academics and bloggers sent a letter on 15
September 2010 to the Dutch Minister of Justice regarding a recently
launched legislative proposal. According to the writers, the proposal could
lead to censorship by the government. The organizations request the change
of the proposal in order to preserve the freedom of press and internet.

The draft proposal of Dutch Minister of Justice Hirsch Ballin has
far-reaching consequences for the freedom of Dutch internet users. For
example, parts of websites but also personal pages on Facebook and Hyves
could, on the basis of this proposal, be shut down without a prior
decision by a court. Currently, a prior judicial ruling is required. In
addition, the proposal would, in short, prohibit the publication of
non-public information and would criminalize the secret recording of
your conversations.

In the letter, the minister is requested to amend the proposal on three
points. Firstly, deleting part of a website should be applied only after a
prior decision by a court. Secondly, the prohibition on the publication of
non-public information should be to re-evaluate in its entirety. Finally,
the minister is requested to clarify the prohibition on recording
conversations.

The letter is an initiative of EDRi-member Bits of Freedom and was signed by
nineteen civil society organisations, twenty experts from the academic
world, in addition to bloggers and internet experts.

The letter (only in Dutch, 15.09.2010)
https://www.bof.nl/live/wp-content/uploads/brandbrief.pdf

Press release: Dutch Internet community protests against state censorship
(only in Dutch, 15.09.2010)
https://www.bof.nl/2010/09/15/persbericht-nederlandse-internetgemeenschap-protesteert-tegen-overheidscensuur/

(Contribution by Ot van Daalen – EDRi-member Bits of Freedom – Netherlands)