Bergkamp urges Twitter to take action on threats to politicians

Parliamentary chairwoman Vera Bergkamp has written to Twitter calling on the company to take action against people who use the social media platform to threaten politicians.

Bergkamp said she felt “deep concern” about a recent spate of messages that threatened violence or death, adding that they were “probably punishable under Dutch law”.

She told the company it had a “responsibility to create a safe space for free expression and to ensure that on Twitter, people have safe, inclusive and authentic conversations.”

Ik maak mij grote zorgen over bedreigende en gewelddadige tweets richting Kamerleden. Daarom vraag ik Twitter @GlobalAffairs daar actie tegen te ondernemen. Lees hier mijn brief ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/dMiE0q7QJR

— Vera Bergkamp (@Vera_Bergkamp) May 31, 2023

A survey of 51 MPs by NOS last year found that 31 of them reported having to deal with verbal abuse, intimidation and physical confrontations on a regular basis, while 12 sometimes withheld their opinion on a subject because they feared reprisals.

Last weekend the grown-up daughters of D66 leader and finance minister, Sigrid Kaag, said they hoped she would leave politics because they feared for her well-being.

“I’m concerned that my mother will end up like Els Borst,” her oldest daughter, Janna, told College Tour, referring to the former D66 health minister who was fatally stabbed in her garage by a psychiatric patient. “It only has to go wrong once.”