Record number of complaints against right-wing broadcaster; Ministry failed to supervise
The Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science has failed in its supervision of the right-wing broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland (ON), said Rabin Baldewsingh, the National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism. The Ombudsman of the Netherlands’ public broadcasting foundation NPO received a record number of almost 1,700 complaints about an ON item on discrimination on Thursday. The NPO wants the Media Authority to judge whether the media law has been violated.
“The agreement was that the Ministry would monitor the state of affairs regarding Ongehoord Nederland,” said Baldewsingh, who was appointed by the Mister of Home Affairs. “That was a condition for the aspiring status of Ongehoord Nederland within the system. It is horrible that this did not happen. There were already many signals that Ongehoord Nederland did not adhere to the game's rules.”
“It is imperative that the Cabinet clearly indicates where the limits of freedom of expression lie,” said the National Coordinator. “It is irresponsible and dangerous that Ongehoord Nederland has been given the space to further polarize society and incite hatred against groups in society. The Cabinet must now take this issue seriously and take it on.”
The item in question showed a compilation of online videos in which people of color beat up white people. According to Presenter Raisa Blommestijn, the program wanted to show “a less exposed aspect of racism on social media.”
She described the compilation using language often considered to be racist in intent. In her words, she stated, “blanken die door negers in elkaar worden geslagen,” which loosely translates to “whites who were beaten up by blacks.” However, the outmoded word “blanken” denotes people who themselves are without color, while “neger” is a frowned upon term for Black people closer to the English word “negro.”
The item resulted in a record number of complaints made to the NPO Ombudsman. The number of 1,689 is almost twice as many as it received during the entire previous year. Complainants said, among other things, that they find the item racist and discriminatory. The Ombudsman also received reports of incitement and hatred.
The Ombudsman will, as usual, forward the complaints to the relative broadcaster. “I am, of course, curious about their response to the complaints,” she said. “Just as I am curious whether the supervisors - the NPO, the Media Authority, and the Ministry - will look further into this.”
State Secretary Gunay Uslu (Culture and Media) responded through her spokesperson to Baldewsingh’s reproach by saying that the public system is legally structured in such a way that the government “cannot influence the content of the programs that the broadcasters of the NPO make.”
According to the State Secretary, it is up to the NPO to monitor whether broadcasters comply with journalistic codes, the Ombudsman to give serious advice, and the Media Authority to monitor whether the media law is violated. The NPO sanctioned ON in July. “If a broadcaster has been imposed two sanctions, the State Secretary can reconsider its license,” said the spokesperson.
