The preliminary relief judge has provisionally put an end to the online area ban that Mayor Femke Halsema imposed on ‘a member of a rap group’ at the beginning of March. According to the judge, the interest of the person concerned in posting messages on social media outweighs the interest in maintaining public order.
The member of the rap group may therefore post messages again for the time being, but this can be reversed at a later stage in the event of an objection or appeal, Halsema said in a letter to the council. She imposed the online ban because the member of the rap group had made concrete threats online towards members of another rap group.
It turns out to be rapper Jaykoppig. “Halsema wanted to ban me,” he says in a video on Instagram. “But I am a person with rights. (..) I won that case. I went against it.”
It was the first time that Halsema imposed such an online ban. According to the judge, this is a complex legal question that has not been answered before and to which several scientists have made critical comments. Furthermore, according to the preliminary relief judge, it is unclear whether the imposed emergency order is legally valid.
Online area ban
Halsema announced in 2022 that he wanted to implement a trial with online area bans, the reason being ‘drill rap-related problems’ that took place online. Since the announcement, not a single area ban was issued until last March, according to the mayor we were waiting for a ‘suitable case’.
The municipality of Utrecht was already dismissed by a judge last year after Mayor Dijkstra issued an online area ban. Halsema previously said that the Amsterdam online area ban was structured differently. She then informed the council that she wanted to continue with the trial.
Tags: Member rap group successfully challenges online area ban imposed Halsema
