Dutch flag carrier airline KLM plans to send ticketed passengers a mobile payment request to offset their share of carbon-dioxide emissions. The airline said it will start the program as a test in 2020 using social media messaging platform WhatsApp to distribute the requests.
All money collected will be invested in a Panamanian reforestation project, the airline said.
School kids in the Netherlands share quite shocking images on their WhatsApp groups, RTL Nieuws found by gaining access to dozens of these groups. The researchers found child pornography, revenge porn, videos of ISIS decapitations, racist- and anti-Semitic images, and Nazi propaganda commonly shared on these groups.
The broadcaster gained access to dozens of these groups, containing children between the ages of 12 and 16. The groups often have hundreds of members, sharing thousands of messages every day.
A major investigation into sexual extortion in Delft and surroundings has resulted in a total of 48 arrests, a vast increase over the 28 suspects police were investigating in the case late last month. Some 50 victims came forward to report that this group extorted a total of almost 125 thousand euros from them, the police said in a statement on Tuesday.
All eight suspects arrested last week on suspicion of gang-raping at least three teenage girls in Den Bosch, have been released from custody. Two were released last week. And on Monday the magistrate ruled that there is not enough evidence to hold the other six. The Public Prosecution Service disagrees with this and will appeal against the ruling.
The average Joe in the Netherlands eats dinner at the table, usually a home cooked meal, and does not watch television or use their phone during dinner time, according to a study by the Nutrition Center, AD reports.
The Nutrition Center questioned a thousand people in the Netherlands about their eating habits. 52 percent said they talk with a partner or family members during dinner, a quarter said they watch TV, and 2 percent said they check social media. Around 20 percent said they have dinner with no distractions at all.
Over the past months the police arrested a 14 teenagers and a 19-year-old man from Leiden and its surroundings in an investigation into sexual extortion. So far 28 victims reported to the police that teenagers were extorting them, threatening to post sexual photos of them online if they don't pay them money, the police said in a statement.
The victims range in age between 14 and 48 years. The police believe there are many more victims, and that this group of teenagers extorted around 100 thousand euros from the victims.
Coalition party CDA wants to do more to protect children against advertising and sponsors on television, YouTube and other social media. According to CDA parliamentarian Harry van der Molen, children are currently treated as "mini-consumers" and that has to stop, AD reports.
The Public Prosecution service is going to prosecute 23 people for criminal offenses around the Facebook live stream of Sinterklaas' national arrival in Amstelveen last year. They suspects are accused of threats, incitement and discrimination and will soon receive their summons, NOS reports.
A 49-year-old man from The Hague was arrested on Monday after publishing a social media post in which he threatened to attack activists with a bomb by blowing himself up as a way of shutting down what he called the "anti-Zwarte Piet movement." He emphasized in the message on Facebook that he "is not joking," and said he wanted to carry out the attack to defend the Sinterklaas tradition as it has been celebrated "for 100 years."
People in the Netherlands spent less time on social media this year, according to the second edition of the Smart Media Monitor by online market researcher Multiscope. Facebook and WhatsApp in particular saw less usage, though remain the biggest social media platforms in the country. More time was spent on Instagram.
A young woman from Amsterdam was contacted by escort agency Pandora in Den Bosch, offering her a job. The agency saw Chantal's Instagram account and thought she'd be perfect for the agency, the Telegraaf reports.
"We came across your profile on Instagram and are super enthusiastic about you", Bureau Pandora said to Chantal in a message. "Are you by any chance interested in a very, very well-paying side job? You seem to be a prefect candidate for the agency!"
Court reporter Chris Klomp was threatened on Thursday night. A brick was thrown through his kitchen window, and a threatening note was stuck to his door. The note instructed Klomp to delete his social media accounts, "or we'll be back", according to photos he posted on Twitter.
"We were just in bed, and then everything downstairs suddenly lies in ruins. That does scare you", the reporter, who writes for newspaper AD and others, said to NOS.
Dutch video influencers - social media vloggers with a large number of followers - are violating the rules of the Advertising Code Foundation by by not clearly stating whether they receive money or free products for the products or services they feature in their videos, Financieele Dagblad reports based on its own investigation.
A young woman asked the internet to help her find someone special to her heart. In the 90's, Mevan was a 5-year-old refugee living in a shelter in Zwolle. One of the aid workers in the shelter gave her a bicycle. "I just want to know his name. Help?" She asked on Twitter. And with success, according to Weblog Zwolle.
The knowledge platform on integration and society KIS is looking into launching new studies into racism in the Netherlands. According to project leader Hanneke Felten, new research is desperately needed because there is currently virtually no scientifically based information on how to combat open racism, while this is a growing phenomenon. "Science focuses primarily on more subtle, unconscious prejudices, less on extreme, open racism", she said to newspaper AD.
KLM had to apologize for a tweet posted by KLM India on Wednesday. The tweet, posted on the 5th anniversary of the MH17 disaster, spoke about what seats you are most likely to die in if you're in a plane crash.
KLM is under fire over a recent tweet about the company's breastfeeding policy. According to the airline's policy, mothers are allowed to breastfeed their baby on board a flight, but can be asked to cover up if other passengers take offense. The tweet led to hundreds of predominantly negative reactions.
Several people were arrested last week after death threats were made against a police officer involved in a drug investigation. A criminal group promised “tens of thousands of euros for information about the officer,” according to a police report.
The alleged criminal group threatened to kill the officer in messages published online.
“The Police and the Public Prosecutor’s office take the threat very seriously. Security measures to protect the officer were undertaken,” police said.
With a nationwide public transit strike scheduled for Tuesday, Dutch are looking for other ways to get around tomorrow. Carpool- and ride sharing hashtags are already trending on social media. If you want to offer or request a ride, look for hashtags like #liftaangeboden, #meerijden #carpool, #carpoolen, #samenrijden, #liftnodig, #treinstaking, #ovstaking.
"Most of the fake news that Dutch people come across online comes from our own country", Peter Bruger, a researcher at Leiden University, said to newspaper Trouw based on his research.
Facebook is not keeping to promises it made to the Tweede Kamer last week about political transparency on the social media platform, according to privacy and civil rights movement Bits of Freedom who put the social media giant's promises to the test, Nieuwsuur reports.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs updated its travel advice for Turkey on Monday to warn Dutch travelers to the country that phone privacy is not something that is respected in Turkey. Phones and other electronic devices can be searched at Turkish airports, and statements made on social media may be punishable in the country, the Ministry warns, NU.nl reports.
In the two days after flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, a Russian troll factory posted over 65 thousand tweets blaming Ukraine for the disaster, De Groene Amsterdammer reports after analyzing 9 million tweets posted by a St Petersburg based troll factory called the Internet Research Agency.
According to the magazine, an organized campaign was launched after MH17 was shot down. The Internet Research Agency played a role in this, as did pro-Russia media who circulated theories that 'proved' Russia innocent in the disaster.
On Friday Facebook launched its library of political advertisements for the Netherlands and the other European Union member states. In this ad library, users can find advertisements from political parties and on political topics. The library is Facebook's response to pressure from EU policy makers to be more transparent about political advertisements on social media, NU.nl reports.
