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'Legislation to reveal identity internet troll also conceivable in the Netherlands'

Australia wants to introduce a law that makes it possible to demand the identity of anonymous internet trolls. Is this be conceivable in the Netherlands?

Michael Klos

'I wouldn’t rule it out', says Michael Klos on Dutch news site NU.nl. He is conducting research on freedom of expression in the internet.

Internet trolls are anonymous accounts on social media that post messages to provoke a response. If the Australian bill is passed, anyone who is the target of defamation or harassment could file a complaint. The platform in question would then have to remove the material. It they don’t do so, a court can force the platform to reveal the name of the troll.

This kind of legislation has been proposed in the past, for example in Austria, but up to now it has always failed due to concerns about privacy, says Klos. 'The European Union has far stricter privacy legislation compared to other countries.'

Read the full article (in Dutch) on NU.nl.

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