The Dutch Media Authority is working to make social media feeds more “healthy”—or, as critics of the plans say, more focused on mainstream narratives.
A new report from the body claims that social media feeds “besides being convenient, have proven to be demonstrably risky for our democracy.” Many will read this as code for the notion that social media is risky for the establishment parties. It adds:
They influence and distort what we as citizens see and who we follow, and in the current practice of social media, come at the expense of free and informed opinion formation.
Officials are therefore looking to limit the power of algorithms on sites like Facebook, TikTok, and X and view EU legislation as a “starting point” for this.
These efforts follow Brussels’ growing tradition of trying to shift citizen attention towards news outlets favourable to its own agenda.
Responding to the initiative, writer Iwan Dienjes asked the all-important question: “Who will decide what ‘democratically healthy information’ is?”
Freedom of expression also means space for uncomfortable, dissenting, and confrontational opinions. Not just for institutionally approved truths.
Author Martin Vrijland also criticised the report for containing “pure Orwellian newspeak.”
And commentator Marieke Hoogwout noted that while officials say “social media platforms should give more attention to accounts of ‘professional media’ like [Dutch national broadcaster] NOS for ‘healthy news information,’” NOS actually stopped posting on X altogether in November last year.
Hoorde net op radio 1 iemand van Commissariaat vd Media vertellen dat socialmediaplatforms accounts van "professionele media" zoals de @NOS méér aandacht moeten geven. Voor "gezonde nieuwsinformatie".
Maar ehhh die zijn toch zelf met vliegende vaandels van TwitterX VERTROKKEN?
— Marieke Hoogwout (@mariekehoogwout) May 19, 2026
The Dutch Media Authority says it would be “happy to contribute” to the government’s approach to social media management.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
