Minister Van Oosten of Justice and Security: “There is no place in the Netherlands for openly glorifying terrorist violence and publicly supporting terrorist organizations. Terrorist organizations try to impose their ideology not only through violence but also by spreading violent messages to gain more followers and inspire people to support and participate in terrorist crimes. This bill draws a clear line: glorifying terrorist acts or expressing support for terrorist organizations is unacceptable and punishable.”
Consultation
The bill was put out for consultation in June this year. There was significant engagement from many Dutch citizens and organizations, with no less than 15,000 responses in the online consultation. The responses also raised questions about which behaviors fall under the criminalization. As a result, the provisions in the bill were clarified. It now more concretely describes which actions are punishable. The explanatory memorandum also provides more examples of what is and is not punishable. Furthermore, the consultation responses led to a more extensive discussion on freedom of expression, which was given considerable attention during the drafting of the bill.
Criminalizations
The bill provides for three criminalizations. First, it is punishable to publicly, for example through a speech, text, or image, extensively praise or glorify a committed terrorist crime punishable by life imprisonment, such as a terrorist attack causing deaths and injuries. This so-called glorification of terrorism can be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years or a heavy fine. Also, distributing material that glorifies terrorist violence, such as a video of an attack with praising comments, is criminalized. This offense can be punished with a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine.
Finally, publicly expressing support for banned terrorist organizations is criminalized. This may include waving flags of banned terrorist organizations in public or wearing clothing with certain symbols or logos of a banned terrorist organization, thereby contributing to others sharing the goal of that organization to commit terrorist crimes. Expressing support on (social) media is also punishable. This criminalization also carries a maximum prison sentence of three years or a fine.