20 November 2025

Media sector calls unanimously for new media policy: provision of information at risk

AMSTERDAM, November 20, 2025 – “Our society is losing its grip on an accurate and diverse information landscape due to the dominant role of global tech companies. This poses a serious threat to democratic resilience, as well as to the Netherlands’ strategic autonomy and, consequently, its security.” This is what the executive boards of all major Dutch media outlets—both public and private—wrote in a unique, unanimous letter to informateur Sybrand Buma and the negotiators from D66 and CDA, at the initiative of the Democracy and Media Foundation.

Their call is this: in the interest of the rule of law, make the security of information provision a priority in the coalition talks, now that security is one of the main items on the coalition agenda.

The letter was signed by people such as Sven Sauvé of RTL Nederland, Martha Riemsma of the ANP, Lucien Brouwer of the NPO, Eugenie van Wiechen of FD Mediagroep, and Pieter Elshout of De Groene Amsterdammer. A total of 23 executives from the media sector signed the letter—a first of its kind.

Lost Control

According to Nienke Venema of the Democracy and Media Foundation, who initiated the campaign, the matter is highly urgent and widely recognized as such: “As we also state in the letter: waiting until the next cabinet term will be too late. Our media landscape is increasingly falling into the hands of a few powerful tech giants. Soon, it won’t be Dutch newsrooms or journalists determining what information reaches the public, but American and Chinese companies that do not uphold our democratic values. This poses a risk to the reliability of our information supply—and thus to our democracy and autonomy.”

According to the authors of the letter, generative AI applications are driving an even more profound transformation of information provision than social media already did. Citizens searching for information online are increasingly getting their answers from an AI-based search engine, chatbot, or virtual assistant, rather than from journalistic or other editorially vetted sources.

Venema: “The question now is: Who or what will gain the upper hand in our digital information system? Do we leave that up to the algorithms of foreign tech giants, or do we invest in an innovative Dutch digital ecosystem rooted in democratic values?”

Minister of Media and Technology

The authors of the letter argue that media policy in the Netherlands should be integrated with technology policy, given that media consumption is driven by technology. To achieve this, according to the signatories, both policy areas should fall under the authority of a single minister and be subject to integrated oversight, aimed at safeguarding the diversity, independence, and accountability of the information provided.

In addition, European digital legislation—including the AI Act—must be implemented in the Netherlands as quickly and strictly as possible. In this regard, transparency on the part of tech companies and measures to combat illegal scraping are of crucial importance. According to the authors of the letter, this will force “Big Tech” to operate within democratic and rule-of-law frameworks, while the media sector, in turn, will retain the safeguards necessary to innovate.

Invitation

Informateur Sybrand Buma received the letter by mail. “We look forward to hearing from him and the leaders of D66 and CDA. This is an urgent issue that cannot be delayed, given the rapid developments in the tech sector. We hope to be invited to contribute our ideas,” said Venema.

Signatories

ANP, Martha Riemsma (Director)
BDUmedia, Ton Roskam (Managing Director)
De Correspondent, Sabine Bijleveld (Director)
De Groene Amsterdammer, Pieter Elshout (Director)
Erdee Media Group, Cornell Heutink (Director)
DPG Media, Erik Roddenhof (CEO)
FD Mediagroep, Eugenie van Wiechen (Managing Director)
Follow the Money, Jan-Willem Sanders (Director)
Mediahuis Netherlands, Rien van Beemen (CEO)
Mediahuis NRC, Dominic Stas (CEO)
NDP News Media, Herman Wolswinkel (Director)
Nedag Publishers/Nederlands Dagblad, Vincenza La Porta (Director and Publisher)
NLPO, Eric Horvath (Executive Director)
NOS, Renate Eringa (Executive Director)
NPO, Lucien Brouwer (Chairman of the Board)
NVJ, Thomas Bruning (General Secretary)
OneWorld, John Olivieira-Siere (publisher)
Roularta Media Netherlands, Marjolein Denekamp (CEO)
RPO, Jan Müller (Managing Director)
RTL Netherlands, Sven Sauvé (CEO)
Talpa Network, Joost Brakel (CEO)
Vrij Nederland, Sander Heijne (editor-in-chief)
Democracy and Media Foundation, Nienke Venema (Executive Director)