Tech & Rights

Dutch Man Guilty of Sedition Over Racist Facebook Posts

The social media posts incited discrimination and violence against Muslims and black people.

by PILP

The man, a 48-year-old from Haren, has been sentenced to 80 hours of community service by the District Court in Oost-Brabant. The man was found guilty of sedition, insulting a group and inciting discrimination and violence.

The suspect posted a number of messages on Facebook between October and December 2015. In May 2017, the police investigated the posts and their origin after a report was filed via the Internet Dispute Reporting Center. This is how they found the suspect. Facebook removed the posts in 2017.

No contribution to social debate

The suspect confessed to having posted the messages and supporting their content. In the posts, he called on other Dutch people to "arm" themselves and used expressions such as "exterminating" and "burning" Muslims and black people. This made the suspect guilty of sedition and insulting a group of people. According to the judge, there was also enough evidence that the suspect had incited discrimination and violence. The posts were visible for everyone for about a year and a half.

According to the judge, nothing shows that the defendant contributed to the social debate about the migrant flow with his posts. The judge points to the choice of words of the suspect, which leaves nothing to the imagination.


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