On the 1st of October, a large TV show called Zondag met Lubach dedicated 13 minutes of airtime to the so called ‘Sleepnetwet’, which roughly translates to ‘trawl law’. The focus of the epsiode is to let people sign up on sleepwet.nl, because there are 300.000 people needed to organize a referendum in The Netherlands. But what is this ‘Sleepnetwet’?
The Dutch parliament has approved an update on the law that lets the secret services collect data (Van Rossem, 2017). This update allows the secret services to use a digital trawl. When, for instance, a suspect is located this law allows the government to collect all the data in the street. Even the data of the innocent civilians. This law would mean that innocent civilians have a higher risk of being eavesdropped by the government (Sitanala, 2017).
When even a big organization like Amnesty International is supporting the referendum about the ‘Sleepnetwet’, you begin wondering how serious this matter is. In the TV show episode of Zondag met Lubach the host mentions the fact that this law would make it easier to track down terrorists. No citizen would be against the decreased chance of a terrorist attack. The downside that is mentioned states that already in the United States the President Trump is tracking down people that have liked an anti-Trump Facebook page. Whenever the data of the ‘Sleepnetwet’ gets in the hands of a Trump-like government that would impose huge risks for the Dutch citizens.
On the 28th of September, there were 100.000 signatures collected (Het Parool, 2017). On the 16th of October, all the 300.000 need to be collected to be able to set up a referendum. If you are a Dutch citizen and never heard about this new law, it is time to get yourself informed.
Het Parool (2017) Nog 200.000 handtekeningen nodig voor referendum sleepwet. Consulted on October 2nd via https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/nog-200-000-handtekeningen-nodig-voor-referendum-sleepwet~a4518940/
Sitanala, S. (2017) Vijf vragen over de nieuwe sleepwet. Consulted on October 2nd https://www.metronieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/2017/10/vijf-vragen-over-de-nieuwe-sleepwet
Van Rossem (2017) Privacy Barometer: ‘De sleepwet is niet effectief, intimiderend en onrechtmatig’. Consulted on October 2nd https://www.geenstijl.nl/5138591/teken-dan/
