The court has banned the website ZwarteLijstArtsen.nl. The website, which has been a digital pillory for doctors for a decade, must be offline within two days. “An enormous relief for many hundreds of doctors,” said Willem van Lynden, board member of the Stop Online Shaming (‘SOS’) Foundation, which initiated the lawsuit.

The private website lists almost 900 doctors and healthcare providers, many with photos, who are portrayed as committing ‘medical crimes’ and as ‘failing healthcare providers’. The court ruled that the accusations against the doctors are very serious and often have no factual basis. The term ‘blacklisted doctors’ wrongly suggests that the doctors listed should be avoided.

For the full press release: click here.

In the proceedings against the website vagina.nl, the Court of Amsterdam rendered an interim judgment on 18 November 2020. In this interim judgment, the Court made suggestions for the way in which persons who (have been) visible against their will on the website vagina.nl can be approached by means of an advertisement, so that – who so wishes – can contact the Court. The next step in the proceedings is that the plaintiffs respond to these suggestions, and then the defendant. After that, the Court will render an interim decision on the matter. Subsequently, the defendant will have to respond substantively to the claims of Stop Online Shaming and EOKM.

In the daily newsreel of Dutch TV channel RTL4 of 25 November 2020, attention was paid to the rise of ‘Deep Nudes’ (computer-generated fake nudes). Spokesman Willem van Lynden of the Stop Online Shaming Foundation warned  about the harmful consequences: “Anyone can be a victim. It is no longer even necessary to be filmed or photographed naked anywhere”.

Watch the news item on our Youtube channel (in Dutch): click here.

In the proceedings against the website vagina.nl of Evolve Media, the Court of Amsterdam rendered an interim judgment on 28 October 2020. In a collective action, additional requirements are imposed on the plaintiffs, even if the claims have an idealistic purpose. Stichting Stop Online Shaming and Stichting EOKM are admissible.

On 1 April 2020, the Court handed down an interlocutory judgment, after which the proceedings were prosecuted. No other interest groups have joined this court case. In July 2020, Evolve Media sent a written procedural document to the Court on the admissibility of the two plaintiffs, who replied in writing in August 2020. In collective cases, it is customary for the Court to assess the admissibility first. Subsequently, the substance of the claims made by the plaintiffs will be debated.

The writ of summons against Evolve Media (vagina.nl) was registered in the Central Register of Collective Actions on 27 February 2020. The proceedings have been brought before the District Court of Amsterdam, which will decide on the subsequent procedural steps on 27 May 2020.

The Stop Online Shaming Foundation, together with Helpwanted.nl, starts a lawsuit against the website Vagina.nl, which exploits nude images without the consent of the people in the image. Especially when using hidden cameras, people don’t even know they have been filmed. With this lawsuit plaintiffs want to make it clear that it is not allowed to put nude images on the internet without permission of everyone who is in the picture.

More information:

• press release (pdf)
• writ of summons (pdf)
• radio interview (NOS Radio 1 News, Feb. 26, 2020, 5 min.)
• news item tv (NOS Journaal and News Hour, Feb. 26, 2020, 1.5 min.)
• video interview (AD De Morning Show, 11 Mar. 2020, 4.5 min.)
• radio interview (NPO Radio 1 Een Vandaag, 7 Jul. 2020, 5.5 min.)

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For media enquiries: Willem van Lynden 06-26788038