The chairperson of the Dutch parliament demanded on Wednesday that Twitter take action to prevent threats against the country’s politicians from being broadcast on the social media network.
Vera Bergkamp made public a letter she sent to the Global Affairs department of the American company, expressing “deep concern” about recent tweets targeting members of parliament that contained death threats “and calls for violence and even murder.”
“These are probably punishable under Dutch criminal law,” she tweeted.
The leader of the Netherlands’ anti-Islam Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has been the frequent target of death threats on Twitter for more than a decade.
Billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and quickly cut staff, including some responsible for content moderation in favor of more automated systems.
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has said he bought Twitter to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division.
“I understand Twitter works hard to minimize toxic and illegal content,” Bergkamp wrote.
“Despite that I urge you to take immediate action to address this issue .. in order to protect our freedom of expression.”
Requests for comment sent to Twitter’s press email and the company’s Global Affairs account were not immediately answered.
Although she is not a member of parliament, the Netherlands’ Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag of the centre-left D-66 Party has also been subjected to online and offline threats.
Last week, Kaag indicated she may consider quitting politics as a result, sparking a national discussion.
