A coalition of Dutch civil society organisations has launched a petition calling on the Tweede Kamer, the Lower House of Representatives, to step up enforcement of European rules governing social media platforms. The groups accuse major technology companies of making content about climate change, queer rights, sexual health and social justice less visible, while allowing hate speech and disinformation to circulate more freely.
The campaign, launched by COC Nederland, Defend Democracy, Hivos, Milieudefensie, Oxfam Novib, Stem op een Vrouw, Transgender Netwerk Nederland, and DeGoedeZaak, focuses on what it calls “shadowbanning“: reducing the visibility of posts or accounts without users being clearly informed that this is happening.
The organisations argue that such practices can distort public debate because platforms operated by companies such as Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads), TikTok and X have become important channels for organisations seeking to reach the public.
Organisations report blocked and restricted content
According to the coalition, organisations working on climate change, plastic pollution and the phase-out of fossil fuels have seen their content restricted by advertising filters. It says organisations working on sexuality, queer identities and reproductive health have also experienced blocked or deleted accounts, while hate comments directed at the same content were allegedly left online.
The groups further say that some organisations have lost access to accounts without prior warning or a clear explanation, leaving them with limited opportunities to challenge the decision.
They argue that these practices can lead organisations to censor themselves to avoid having their content suppressed or their accounts restricted.
The coalition also warns that social media platforms are increasingly influenced by political and ideological considerations, although it does not provide evidence in the petition to substantiate that broader claim.
Digital Services Act already provides rules
The campaign argues that much of the legal framework needed to address these concerns is already in place through the European Union‘s Digital Services Act (DSA), which has applied fully to online platforms since February 2024.
Under the DSA, platforms must provide users with clear reasons when they remove or restrict content. Users must also have access to an internal complaints mechanism. The largest platforms, classified as Very Large Online Platforms, face additional obligations concerning the transparency of recommendation systems and the assessment of systemic risks to areas including public debate.
The organisations say the problem in the Netherlands is therefore not a lack of European legislation, but insufficient enforcement.
The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) acts as the country’s Digital Services Coordinator. The coalition is calling on parliament to hold the regulator to account and provide it with sufficient resources and capacity to enforce the DSA, including imposing sanctions where platforms violate the rules.
Call for transparency and a complaints centre
The petition calls for platforms to explain, in clear language, when and why users’ content has been made less visible. The organisations also want greater protection for civil-society groups whose accounts are removed or blocked.
Among their demands is a requirement for prior notification, a substantive explanation and an effective opportunity to appeal before accounts belonging to registered civil-society organisations are removed or blocked.
The coalition is also calling for an independent national reporting centre where citizens and organisations could report suspected shadowbanning, account removals and other opaque content-moderation decisions. It wants such complaints to be collected and documented and, where appropriate, referred to the ACM.
Finally, the organisations want the ACM to publish an annual Netherlands-specific overview of how major platforms moderate content, the effects of their algorithms and any sanctions imposed.
‘Big Tech’ as a democratic issue
The campaign frames the issue as more than a dispute between individual users and social media companies. Because platforms have become major channels for political and social communication, the organisations argue that opaque moderation decisions can affect the quality of democratic debate.
“Everyone has the right to know when a platform makes their posts invisible,” the petition says in its central call to parliament. It urges MPs to ensure that the existing European rules are actually enforced in the Netherlands.
The coalition says its demands are based on existing EU law and that the next step should therefore be stronger enforcement rather than new European legislation.
