How context can turn a slogan into a crime
image: Stefano Huang on Unsplash
Two men have been sentenced to six months in jail for projecting racist slogans onto the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam during the 2023 New Year’s celebrations. Associate Professor Marloes van Noorloos spoke to Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’ about the punishability of such slogans.
Besides projecting racist slogans in Rotterdam, texts were also projected in Alkmaar and Eindhoven. As can be read in the court's judgment (in Dutch) these included slogans such as: ‘White Lives Matter’, ‘Happy white 2023’, ‘Keep Lampegat white’ and the so-called ‘14 words’. This shows that the slogans do not automatically fall under group insult and that the context was decisive.
According to Van Noorloos, the court’s verdict sets a clear standard to defendants and the outside world: ‘Their texts are founded on replacement theory that has become increasingly normalised in the Netherlands. The court points to where that theory comes from: Nazi Germany. The court makes clear to society that freedom of expression does not provide a sanctuary for the expression of this theory.'