D66 wants to end use of anonymous social media accounts

D66 leader Sigrid Kaag is pushing to put a face on anonymous social media accounts. She is hereby supporting the initiative of singer Gordon Heuckeroth that wants to mandate proof of identification when creating an account on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“I think Gordon is right, I’m just not sure if it is judicially possible”, Kaag said, according to the ANP.

A study by the Groene Amsterdammer last week showed that Kaag received the most hate comments out of all female candidates. Women are often the target of misogynistic comments online. In Goodmorning Netherlands, Kaag said on Friday that she “wants to take a step against the spread of hate, intimidation and sexism.”

“All these anonymous, key-board warriors that are throwing out all sorts of messages in their attics? They won’t be anonymous anymore”, Kaag said. She added that tech companies play an important role in identifying online users.

Heuckeroth handed over a petition against hate speech on social media this week to Minister of Legal Protection Sander Dekker. The petition gathered over 40 thousand signatures.