Far-right broadcaster slapped with second fine in a year, putting license at risk

The NPO imposed its second sanction in a year on broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland (ON!) It concerns a fine of 56,065.45 euros. The Dutch public broadcasting system, known by the acronym NPO, believes that the young broadcaster has "not complied with the legal obligation to cooperate in the performance of the public media mission since its entry into the public system."

The broadcaster did not act in accordance with public values ​​and does not meet the high standards of journalistic quality, the NPO said.

According to the NPO, the actions of Ongehoord Nederland have an "enormous negative impact on the integrity and reputation of public broadcasting."

In the event of repeated violations, the NPO has the option of submitting a request to the relevant state secretary to consider withdrawing ON!'s provisional recognition as a public broadcaster, effectively cutting them out of the system.

A decision could then determine if ON! remains in the system, or is forced out, in which case it would be the first time that a broadcaster's license has been revoked.

The broadcaster believes that the sanction shows that the NPO opposes a free press with diverse positions in the Netherlands. ON! called the sanction "unjustified and inappropriate."

https://nltimes.nl/2022/12/29/far-right-broadcaster-slapped-second-fine-year-putting-license-risk