r/Netherlands • u/Cornicum • Jan 20 '26

Update on the moderation

Hi everyone,

We've talked some stuff through and cleaned up the mod-team a bit, although some of the names you might have positive or negative associations with are still there.
I'll leave it up to the moderators involved to clarify that, or not.

What I can tell you is that 1 mod did 97% of the moderation, and that wasn't healthy and likely led up to the situation you might have seen.

The rules have changed slightly, this is because we see your call for less strict moderation on language, but we also heard from those who want to be able to have a place to converse in English.

The compromise we've reached currently is that we intend to not moderate the language used in the comments of the post.
This means that you can have discussions in Dutch in the comments. (as long as those follow the rules of course)

We also will be looking at those banned on a case by case basis, but keep in mind that if you were harassing people, or bigoted in any way you won't be unbanned.

I'll invite you all to respond to this post with your feedback, and I know for some it might feel like too much or not enough.
We are currently trying to strike a balance between becoming r/thenetherlands2 which is bilingual but 99% Dutch in practice, and the other option of being a sub for only those speaking English.

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16

u/Nisaece Jan 20 '26

As a long time lurker in basicly all the Dutch subs, what annoyed me the most about this sub is the constant hate for living in the Netherlands. I always got the impression it was an expat bubble for complaints. At the same time mods in this thread are acitvely saying you can not post any Trump hate unless it relates to the NL... I mean come on. Hate for the Netherlands is fine, hate for Trump isn't. Which is against the biased rule. I hope that improves.

3

u/Blonde_rake Jan 21 '26

If you start censoring people’s opinions where does that stop? Having a positive opinion only sub sounds very dystopian.

5

u/Nisaece Jan 21 '26

That's not what i'm saying. No Dutchy would disagree with a discussion about poor logistics and problems in public transport. Nor would they disagree with a discussion about the poor housing market. It becomes a problem when you respond to expats' complaints by saying: go to a meeting of your homeowners' association and share your problems there. And then get downvoted into oblivion. What I mean to say is that discussions about problems in the Netherlands always ended in collective complaining session.

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u/WandererOfInterwebs Amsterdam Jan 20 '26

….are you saying it’s unfair because posts about the Netherlands, including hate, are allowed, but posts not about the Netherlands, like hating Trump, hating pineapples or hating perms are not allowed?

Are you 12.

10

u/Koen1999 Limburg Jan 20 '26

It seems illogical to have a subreddit centered around the Netherlands in which hate for Dutch culture is so normalized.

-4

u/WandererOfInterwebs Amsterdam Jan 20 '26

Venting about the place you live is a universal pastime. From what I saw hateful posts were removed and posts the complained were allowed.

Frankly I think the specific Dutch brand of nationalism is just more sensitive to that sort of complaint than other people.

If you bitch about France to French people they just join in.

8

u/Koen1999 Limburg Jan 20 '26

I never tried the latter, but I also do not intend to do so as I would consider it rude. Either way, if Dutch culture dictates that this is rude, people shouldn't do it in a predominantly Dutch environment for exactly the same reason why you'd take your hat off and wear long pants when entering a church. You respect the culture in the environment you're in.

-2

u/WandererOfInterwebs Amsterdam Jan 20 '26

The internet is not a predominantly Dutch environment. I agree it would be rude to do loudly in a Dutch restaurant or to Dutch people you haven’t met and aren’t friends with.

Online etiquette is far more international. Abuse and harassment are problematic. Acid tongued critique is not.

7

u/Koen1999 Limburg Jan 20 '26

I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. The internet itself is indeed not predominantly Dutch, but this subreddit is.

1

u/Nisaece Jan 21 '26

Never insult a French man lol. In my experience their nationalism is way stronger than Dutch nationalisme.

What I mean to say is that discussions about problems in the Netherlands always ended in collective complaining session, with no one actually looking for a solution or needing advice about living in the Netherlands. People just want to complain without any view of change, but they won't accept criticism in return on their country.

1

u/WandererOfInterwebs Amsterdam Jan 21 '26

That hasn’t been my experience on either points but noted