Cracking Down on Those Dangerous Bloggers

[Ambiorix]

Thursday, June 26, 2008
Cracking Down on Those Dangerous Bloggers

http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/06/cracking-down-on-those-dangerous.html#readfurther

by Baron Bodissey

Regular readers (especially the Dutch ones) will remember the riots in Slotervaart late last year. Muslim “youths”, on a variety of pretexts, did serious property damage, beat people up, burned cars, and engaged in all the other forms of youthful exuberance with which native Europeans have become all too familiar in recent years.

Naturally the perpetrators of such acts were never pursued, let alone caught.

So the government of the Netherlands, which never sleeps in its effort to combat criminality and disorder, has decided to… crack down on bloggers!

The authorities hope to solve the Islamic problem by arresting and harassing those who criticize Islam. According to NIS:

Govt Targeting Comments on Islam-Critical Websites

The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) appears to have launched an initiative against comments on Internet sites that are critical of the multicultural society. The OM is among other things focusing on the popular website GeenStijl.nl.

GeenStijl received a written request this week to report to a police station in Amsterdam, without further information on what it was about. GeenStijl’s editors reported they were told that 14 comments on its website were punishable offences. These were contributions from visitors to the site in 2006.

GeenStijl is astonished at the move. It says it is actually very active in removing unacceptable comments. GeenStijl has three staff members for this. The site says its archives contain 11 million comments. If 14 reactions are inadmissible, this is a margin of error of 0.00001 percent, according to the site.
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GeenStijl noted that the Internet Discrimination Reporting Centre (MDI) praised the site only last week for its policy. “Geenstijl is the best at removing. They seem to be checking their email permanently; generally we have an answer with apologies within two minutes,” MDI director Niels van Tamelen told De Pers newspaper.

But it is actually based on a complaint by MDI dating from 2006 that GeenStijl has now been summoned to the police station. The OM in Amsterdam denies there is a new policy. “More attention was already allotted to discrimination last year,” was all a spokesman would say.

GeenStijl founder Dominique Weesie said about the 14 comments: “Half of them could have been made by the average politician; the other half plainly went too far. But what goes too far for us is that we as a website are now held accountable for this.”

If MDI had approached GeenStijl, the reactions would have been removed, but this did not happen, according to Weesie. “The MDI is required to inform the website manager first, before transferring the case to the OM. Not GeenStijl, but the MDI can therefore be accused of negligence.”

GeenStijl is challenging the OM to prosecute it. The site writes: “You bunch of amateurs, go and be deeply ashamed and then go and catch real crooks, instead of creating a climate in which webloggers and cartoonists are declared outlaws. As far as we are concerned, bring this case before the judge, be sure that you will lose it.”

The move on GeenStijl is not isolated. Recently, cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot was arrested by 10 police for ‘discriminatory’ cartoons. Last week, the webmaster of the politically incorrect site Hoeiboei was summoned to the police station. What they have in common is that they are critical of Islam and immigration.

The list of Dutch organizations or individuals harassed by the government for their speech is now quite long. Besides the two blogs mentioned above, Ehsan Jami, Rita Verdonk, Geert Wilders, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Gregorius Nekschot have all been tapped on the shoulder by the long arm of the law.

Our expatriate Dutch correspondent H. Numan has been keeping me informed. Concerning GeenStijl and Hoeiboei, he had this to say in an email:

All received blank summons, no reason given. GeenStijl did answer the summons (Hoeiboei didn’t), and it appeared ‘merely’ to be political harassment. Out of 11 MILLION postings, A stunning 14 of them could be judged offensive.

One complaint regarding disregard of privacy was filed. The other three can be dismissed out of hand: the MDI (still) has to inform the site owner first before filing a complaint.

Nevertheless, it is chilling to the bone to see the cradle of tolerance and freedom of speech changing via a DDR democracy into a Shariah state.

I asked him if Het Vrije Volk (HVV) is also likely to feel the chill breath of the thought police, and here’s what he said:

HVV is less likely to be targeted than GeenStijl, but far more likely than Hoeiboei.

GeenStijl is rather provocative. The don’t beat around the bush. You call them on the phone threatening to sue? Ten minutes later you can hear your voicemail live on line.

You’re a black politician who blundered? Too bad, they nail you to the cross, without any respect for your divine black skin. They aren’t racist, they just nail another blundering politician.

Hoeiboei is very different. Far fewer comments posted. Much more editorial. Far less offensive. In fact, I’m even surprised to see them summoned.

So, if a very polite and quiet blog like Hoeiboei gets into trouble, that means anything to the right, and HVV certainly is, is in big trouble.

At the moment it’s harassment. Show bloggers the police are there. They’re out and looking for… YOU!

So behave nicely, and you have nothing to fear. Pure DDR polizei work.

And remember: when they finally get past the little Irish speed bump, when the Treaty of Lisbon is fully implemented, the EU will be like the DDR writ large.

Imagine it: an entire continent fitted out like a Soviet satellite state. Government control of the media, arrests for thought crimes, ubiquitous government surveillance, informers, massive corruption, bloated and inefficient bureaucracy — all in the name of enlightened tolerance, in order to prevent war and aggression, to protect poor defenseless women and minorities against the dangers of nationalism.

Europe, say hello to your future.