The Cabinet is moving to grant the police expanded powers to monitor public social media and other online platforms in an effort to prevent public order disturbances. A bill formalising these measures was approved by the Council of Ministers on Friday, with the aim of ensuring that law enforcement can intervene more effectively before situations escalate.
According to the Minister for Justice and Security, David van Weel, many riots and demonstrations are now organised almost entirely online. He pointed to the unrest at the Malieveld last September—where an asylum policy protest turned into a violent riot targeting both the police and the D66 party headquarters—as a key example of why these powers are necessary.
Under current regulations, officers are permitted to view public internet sources but are restricted from extracting or systematically collecting data from them. The new legislation will change this, allowing the police to gather personal data from the public domain, including information from individuals’ public social media accounts and digital footprints.
The Minister described the current limitations as a source of frustration for law enforcement, stating that the bill finally “brings the police into the 21st century.” While the new rules apply only to public accounts and do not yet cover closed groups, the Cabinet has indicated that work is already underway to potentially expand these powers to private online spaces in the future.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
