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On 4 March 2025, the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media) published the draft 2025 Policy Rule on the qualification of on-demand commercial media services (draft 2025 Policy Rule). It will replace the previous policy rule adopted in 2022 (2022 Policy Rule). Both the 2022 Policy Rule as well as the draft 2025 Policy Rule are based on the Dutch Media Act of 2008 (the Act), which was amended in 2020 in the course of the implementation of revised Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by...

On 11 March 2025, a notable bill was published, which would amend the Dutch Criminal Code, and criminalise the publication of images, videos or livestreams, of certain victims of accidents or crimes. The Explanatory Memorandum to the bill notes that such images of victims are often made public and distributed via social media, and that making public such images is a “serious and punishable violation of privacy”. Notably, the offence would carry a possible one-year prison sentence or fine. Under the bill, a new Article 139h of the Criminal Code would be introduced, which would make...

On 20 January 2025, the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media) announced that, following an investigation, a major Dutch broadcast provider would be making broadcasts of certain sports competitions more easily accessible to the general public, without the creation of specific accounts or the sharing of personal data. The investigation followed VodafoneZiggo acquiring the broadcasting rights to the Champions League and Europa League, which are part of the so-called “events list” under the Dutch Media Act (Mediawet). Events on the events list are of general social interest...

On 31 December 2024, the District Court of Central Netherlands ruled that the Dutch public broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) did not act unlawfully by reporting on the treatment of Polish migrant workers by the employment agency IFC Work. The court determined, in particular, that NOS did not overstep the boundaries of media freedom as it fully abided by journalistic standards. The ruling became publicly available on 4 February 2025. The case revolved around a programme titled "Poolse Europarlementariër waarschuwt Polen voor werken in Nederland" (Polish MEP warns Poles...

On 4 February 2025, Uitvoeringswet digitaledienstenverordening – the Dutch act implementing the Digital Services Act (DSA) – entered into force. Under this legislation, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt – ACM) was officially designated as the Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) – a national supervisory authority responsible for the effective and consistent supervision and enforcement of the DSA. The ACM will exercise a wide range of investigative and enforcement powers in the Netherlands as well as participating in...