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On April 30th, 2019, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled that the PowNed broadcasting organisation was not liable for broadcasting secretly taped private conversations between a former Dutch mayor and a 24-year old man with whom he was romantically involved. The Court thus overturned a judgment of 31 August 2016 delivered by the District Court of Amsterdam (see IRIS 2016-10/21). The facts of the case revolve around Onno Hoes, who during his time as mayor of the Dutch city of Maastricht became involved in a marital scandal in 2013, when he was seen kissing another man. A year later, when the initial...

On 11 April 2019, in response to its market study into mobile-app stores, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt, ACM), announced that it will investigate whether Apple abuses its dominant position in its App Store. Under competition law, if a business enjoys a dominant position, this should not undermine competition, and businesses should be able to compete fairly with each other. ACM’s remit is to ensure that markets work well for businesses and their consumers. Since Apple and Google have attained strong positions in the market of mobile app stores,...

In two decisions of 26 February 2019 and 12 March 2019, the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media - CvdM) fined two Dutch public service broadcasters for infringing the Dutch Media Act (Mediawet 2008). According to the CvdM, the public broadcasters are both liable for prohibited forms of expression in one of their television shows. Under the Dutch Media Act, media offered by public service broadcasters are not allowed to contain avoidable expressions (vermijdbare uitingen) that clearly have the effect of promoting the purchase of certain products or services (article 2.89). This provision...

In a press release of 7 March 2019, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) declared that websites must remain accessible for Internet users who refuse to give consent to the placement of tracking cookies. Websites that only grant access to their site after visitors have given consent do not comply with the free consent standard set by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the Netherlands, cookie placement is regulated under the Dutch Telecommunications Act (Telecommunicatiewet). Under article 11.7a of this Act, consent is required to store or to receive access to information on the...

In a judgement of 22 December 2018, the District Court of Limburg ruled that a Dutch political party, the Socialist Party (SP), had not acted unlawfully by posting on a website called foutevastgoedbazen.nl (wrongrealestatebosses.nl)) and on a Facebook page statements about a real estate company, Metroprop, which owns a large number of properties in Heerlen, a city in the South of the Netherlands, and about its managing director. The website was an initiative of citizens of Heerlen and the political party aimed at protesting against what they call “wrong real estate bosses”, such as the managing...