Overview
- University of Amsterdam researchers reviewed 2.7 million YouTube comments from 2014 to 2024 across major Dutch news channels, producing the first large‑scale evidence tying parliamentary language to online discrimination.
- The study finds the strongest amplification for racism and for hostility targeting Muslims and Jews, with weaker effects for sexism and anti‑LGBT discrimination.
- Researchers describe a triangular dynamic in which politicians most strongly shape language online and in newspapers, while YouTube comments feed back into politicians’ rhetoric but have little effect on print coverage.
- The Staatscommissie warns of a downward spiral that normalizes discriminatory language and urges firmer boundaries from politicians, journalists, platforms, and users, including more active intervention by the parliamentary chair and procedural review by the Commission for the Working Procedures.
- The report notes social platforms often act only after complaints and benefit from polarizing content, and it cites a spike in use of the slur “heks” online after Geert Wilders used it about Sigrid Kaag in 2021.