Dutch media outlets take EU to court over disinformation claims
February 21, 2018
Three Dutch media companies are taking the European Commission to court for branding them spreaders of fake news.
Shock blog
GeenStijl, populist website
The Post Online and
De Persgroep want the Commission’s anti-disinformation task force to rectify claims that they spread fake news, or face a fine of €20,000 a day.
EU vs Disinfo is part of the EU’s external action service East Stratcom Task Force, which falls under the responsibility of foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and was set up to challenge Russia’s ongoing disinformation campaigns in March 2015.
After their initial legal protests,
GeenStijl and
The Post Online are no longer listed on the website as distributors of fake news but are demanding a formal rectification. Persgroep paper
De Gelderlander is included on the website for
an article about the Buk rocket used to bring down flight MH17.
The case will be heard in Amsterdam on March 14.
