Defamation and Online Harassment Laws in the Netherlands

Dutch law has no separate defamation act. A civil claim is brought as a wrongful act (onrechtmatige daad) under Article 6:162 of the Civil Code, which requires the person responsible to pay for the damage caused by conduct that breaches a right, a legal duty or unwritten standards of proper social conduct, unless there is a justification. The Constitution (Article 7) protects the freedom to publish without prior permission, but keeps everyone responsible under the law for what they publish.

Sources1Dutch Civil Code, Book 6, Article 6:162 (Dutch)2Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Article 7 (Dutch)

Title XVI of the Criminal Code makes it an offense to deliberately attack someone's honor or reputation by accusing them of a specific fact in order to make it public: up to six months in prison for spoken defamation and up to one year when it is done in writing or images (Article 261). If the person knows the accusation is false, it becomes laster, punishable by up to two years (Article 262), and other deliberate insults can bring up to three months (Article 266). Under Article 269 these offenses are generally prosecuted only if the victim files a complaint, which Article 66 requires within three months of learning of the offense.

Sources3Dutch Criminal Code, Article 261 (Dutch)4Dutch Criminal Code, Article 262 (Dutch)5Dutch Criminal Code, Article 266 (Dutch)6Dutch Criminal Code, Article 269 (Dutch)7Dutch Criminal Code, Article 66 (Dutch)

A civil claim for damages generally expires five years after the start of the day following the date the injured person became aware of both the damage and the person responsible, and in any case 20 years after the event that caused the damage (Article 3:310(1) of the Civil Code). The same rule applies to written and spoken statements. If the statement is also a criminal offense, the damages claim against the person who committed it does not expire while that person can still be prosecuted (Article 3:310(4)). On the criminal side, a complaint must be filed within three months of learning of the offense, and the right to prosecute offenses carrying up to three years in prison lapses after six years (Articles 66 and 70 of the Criminal Code).

Sources8Dutch Civil Code, Book 3, Article 3:310 (Dutch)7Dutch Criminal Code, Article 66 (Dutch)9Dutch Criminal Code, Article 70 (Dutch)

Dutch law does not use the defamation per se categories. Instead, Article 6:106 of the Civil Code gives a right to fair compensation for non-financial harm when a person's honor or good name has been damaged, so a claimant who establishes liability can recover for reputational harm even without a financial loss.

Source10Dutch Civil Code, Book 6, Article 6:106 (Dutch)

The Netherlands implemented the EU anti-SLAPP Directive (2024/1069) through an amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure that took effect on July 14, 2026. In cross-border cases covered by the Directive, a court can order the claimant to provide security for legal costs and damages (Article 224a). A claimant who loses a case against public participation covered by the Directive must pay the other side's full legal costs unless that would be unreasonable, and this cost rule also applies to purely domestic cases (Article 237(6) and (7)). The law adds no broader stand-alone anti-SLAPP procedure beyond these measures.

Sources11Act of 8 July 2026 implementing Directive (EU) 2024/1069, Staatsblad 2026, 185 (Dutch)12Decree of 9 July 2026 on the entry into force, Staatsblad 2026, 197 (Dutch)13Dutch Code of Civil Procedure, Article 224a (Dutch)14Dutch Code of Civil Procedure, Article 237 (Dutch)

When someone is liable for publishing factual information that is incorrect or misleading because it is incomplete, a court can order them, at the injured person's request, to publish a correction (rectificatie) in a manner the court decides (Article 6:167 of the Civil Code). A correction can be ordered even when the publisher is not liable because they did not know the information was wrong, although the court may then make the requesting party bear some or all of the costs.

Source15Dutch Civil Code, Book 6, Article 6:167 (Dutch)

Under Article 261(3) of the Criminal Code there is no criminal defamation when the speaker acted in necessary self-defense, or could in good faith assume the accusation was true and that the public interest required making it. Article 266(2) excludes from simple insult statements meant to judge how public interests are being handled, as long as they do not aim to offend more than that purpose requires, and under Article 265 a conviction for laster is ruled out if the target was finally convicted of the alleged fact. In civil cases, Article 6:162 makes conduct unlawful only in the absence of a justification, and courts weigh the constitutional freedom of expression against the protection of reputation.

Sources3Dutch Criminal Code, Article 261(3) (Dutch)16Dutch Criminal Code, Article 265 (Dutch)5Dutch Criminal Code, Article 266(2) (Dutch)1Dutch Civil Code, Book 6, Article 6:162 (Dutch)2Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Article 7 (Dutch)

Article 285b of the Criminal Code makes stalking (belaging) a crime: deliberately and systematically intruding on another person's private life, without right, in order to force them to do or tolerate something or to frighten them. It carries up to three years in prison and applies regardless of whether the intrusion happens online or offline, but it is prosecuted only on the victim's complaint.

Source17Dutch Criminal Code, Article 285b (Dutch)

The Netherlands has no single online harassment offense, so abusive online messages are handled under general provisions. Article 266 of the Criminal Code punishes deliberate insults made in public in writing or images, or sent to the victim in writing or images, with up to three months in prison. Article 285 punishes threats of serious violence, such as threats to kill or seriously assault someone, with up to three years, and up to four years for written threats made under a condition.

Sources5Dutch Criminal Code, Article 266 (Dutch)18Dutch Criminal Code, Article 285 (Dutch)

Article 285d of the Criminal Code specifically criminalizes doxxing: obtaining, spreading or otherwise making available someone's personal data with the aim of frightening them, causing them serious nuisance or seriously hindering them in their job. The maximum penalty is two years in prison, increased by one third when the victim is targeted in a role such as politician, judge, lawyer, journalist or police officer.

Source19Dutch Criminal Code, Article 285d (Dutch)

Article 254ba of the Criminal Code punishes deliberately and unlawfully making a sexual image of a person, or possessing one while knowing or having good reason to suspect it was made that way, with up to one year in prison. Publishing such an image, or publishing any sexual image of a person while knowing that this can harm them, carries up to two years.

Source20Dutch Criminal Code, Article 254ba (Dutch)