False accusations: how far can you go to protect your name?

If someone spreads a false accusation about you, Dutch law lets you demand removal and rectification and claim damages, usually through an unlawful act claim under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW) and, where it is urgent, through summary proceedings. The main limit is your own response: if you hit back publicly, naming your accuser or setting out your side to a wide audience, you can become liable yourself, even if the accusation against you was entirely false.

A false accusation can also be a criminal offence, such as defamation (smaad) or libel (laster) under Articles 261 and 262 of the Dutch Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht, Sr), or a false report to the police. Whichever route you choose, the first step is always the same: secure the statement, its date, its author and its audience before it is edited or deleted.

What can you do about a false accusation?

You have three routes: a civil claim against the person who made the accusation, a criminal complaint, and a request to the platform that hosts the statement. They can be combined, and the right mix depends on what you want to achieve.

If you mainly want the statement gone and corrected, a civil route is usually the fastest. A court in summary proceedings can order removal, rectification and a ban on repetition within weeks. If the accusation has cost you money, for example a job or a contract, a civil claim for damages is the way to recover it. The criminal route makes sense where the accuser knowingly lied, or filed a false report with the police. It is slower, and you do not control it: the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) decides whether to prosecute. For online statements, a notice to the platform can remove content in days, without any court.

In practice, most cases start with evidence, then a formal letter, and only then, if needed, the court. Our article on the difference between defamation and libel explains the criminal terms in more detail.

What should you do in the first days?

Secure the evidence first and do not respond publicly. What you do in the first days often decides how strong your position is later.

Make screenshots of every post, comment, message and review, with the date, time, URL and the name of the account visible. Save emails and text messages in their original form. Write down who saw or heard the accusation and when. Do not delete anything, including hurtful messages sent to you.

Screenshots can be disputed. If the case is serious, or if you expect the content to disappear, ask a bailiff (gerechtsdeurwaarder) to record the online content in an official report (proces-verbaal van constatering). A court gives such a report considerable weight.

Then control your communications. Do not confront your accuser, do not post a rebuttal and do not ask friends to do it for you. Cut off direct contact where possible and let your lawyer do the talking. If you must say something, for example to your employer or to clients, keep it short and factual: you deny the accusation and you are taking legal steps.

When is a statement unlawful under Dutch law?

A statement is unlawful if, on balance, your right to protection of your reputation outweighs the other person’s freedom of expression. The court weighs all the circumstances of the case; there is no fixed list.

Both rights are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): freedom of expression in Article 10 and respect for private life, including reputation, in Article 8. Neither automatically prevails. The court looks at the nature of the accusation and how serious it is, whether it was supported by the facts available at the time, how it was worded, whether it served a public interest, and whether the person making it gave you a chance to respond. The medium matters too. A post that reaches thousands of people weighs heavier than a remark in a private conversation.

A distinction is made between factual statements and value judgements. A factual accusation, such as that you stole money or harassed a colleague, must have a sufficient factual basis. An opinion, such as that your service is poor, is given more room, as long as it is not purely insulting or unrelated to any facts. People in public life, such as politicians and well-known executives, must tolerate more criticism than private individuals, because the public has a greater interest in debate about them. That does not mean anything goes: a false factual accusation remains unlawful whoever the target is.

How far can you go in your own response?

You may deny the accusation and correct it, but the same balancing test applies to what you say. A response that names and shames your accuser, or spreads their personal data, can be unlawful even if you were entirely in the right.

Courts accept that someone who is attacked may defend themselves, and that a reply may be firm. The reply must, however, be proportionate. Publishing the accuser’s name, photograph or private messages, or accusing them in turn of lying or of crimes, goes beyond a correction. It can lead to a claim against you for unlawful publication. Publishing personal data of the accuser can also breach the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Being right is not a defence to the way you assert it.

A sensible response usually has three features. It is addressed to the same audience that heard the accusation, and not to a wider one. It sticks to the facts: what was said, why it is untrue and what you are doing about it. And it avoids statements about the accuser’s character or motives. An employee who is falsely accused on a company intranet, for example, can ask the employer to publish a correction on that intranet, rather than posting the story on a public social media account.

Who has to prove what?

As the claimant, you must show that the statement was made and that it is unlawful. The person who made a factual accusation must, however, show that it had a sufficient factual basis at the time.

The general rule in Article 150 Rv is that the party relying on a legal consequence must prove the facts it is based on. You therefore have to prove what was said, by whom, to whom and when. That is why securing the evidence early matters so much. You do not always have to prove that the accusation is untrue, which can be impossible. Courts ask whether the accusation had sufficient support in the facts available to the maker when it was made (steun in het feitenmateriaal). An accuser who cannot point to such facts will usually lose, even if you cannot prove a negative.

In practice, courts also look at how carefully the maker acted. Did they check the story, or did they pass on a rumour? Did they give you the chance to respond before publishing? Did they choose neutral wording or suggestive language? A journalist who investigated carefully and presented the accusation as a suspicion is in a much stronger position than someone who passed on a rumour.

How do you stop the statements?

Start with a formal demand letter; if that does not work, ask the court in summary proceedings to order removal and rectification. A court can give such orders within weeks, backed by a penalty payment for each breach.

A demand letter (sommatiebrief) sets out which statements are false, why they are unlawful and what you want: removal, a rectification and an undertaking not to repeat them, within a short deadline. It often ends the matter. It also creates a record that you gave the other party a chance to put things right, which a court will take into account.

If the letter is ignored, you can start summary proceedings (kort geding) before the preliminary relief judge (voorzieningenrechter). You must show an urgent interest (spoedeisend belang) under Article 254 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Rv). Ongoing online statements usually meet that test, provided you act quickly after discovering them. The judge can order the accuser to remove the statements, to refrain from repeating them and to publish a rectification. Under Article 6:167 BW, a court can order the publication of a rectification in a form and place it determines, for example on the same platform or in the same group chat. The order is usually combined with a penalty payment (dwangsom) for each day or each breach of non-compliance.

A summary judgment is provisional. It does not decide the dispute finally, but in defamation cases it often ends it in practice. If you also want damages, or a final ruling, you start proceedings on the merits (bodemprocedure).

Can you claim damages for a false accusation?

Yes. If the accusation was unlawful, you can claim compensation for the financial loss it caused and, in many cases, for non-material damage to your honour and reputation.

The claim is based on the unlawful act under Article 6:162 BW. Financial loss includes lost income after a dismissal, lost contracts and the costs of limiting the damage. You must show a causal link between the accusation and the loss. A dismissal letter that refers to the accusation, statements from colleagues or clients, and payslips and contracts are the kind of evidence that works. Under Article 6:106(1)(b) BW, you can also claim non-material damage if your honour or good name was harmed. Dutch courts award relatively modest amounts for that; the rectification is often worth more than the money.

A claim for damages must be brought within five years of the day after you became aware of both the damage and the person responsible, and in any event within twenty years of the event, under Article 3:310 BW. For summary proceedings, act within weeks: a court will ask why you waited if you claim urgency.

In the Netherlands, the losing party usually pays a contribution to the legal costs of the other party, based on fixed rates (liquidatietarief). That contribution rarely covers the full fees of your lawyer. Court fees (griffierecht) are also payable.

How do you get false accusations removed online?

Report the content to the platform first, using its notice procedure. Under the EU Digital Services Act, platforms must offer such a procedure and must give reasons if they refuse to remove content.

The Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, DSA) has applied to all online platforms and hosting services since 17 February 2024. Under Article 16 DSA, a hosting service must have an easy notice-and-action mechanism for reporting illegal content. Under Article 17 DSA, it must explain its decision if it restricts or refuses to restrict content. Online platforms must also offer an internal complaint procedure under Article 20 DSA, and you can turn to a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body under Article 21 DSA.

A good notice is specific. Identify the exact posts and URLs, explain why the statement is false and unlawful, and add evidence. Refer to the platform’s own rules as well, for example on harassment. Automated first decisions are often negative, so use the complaint procedure if your report is rejected.

A hosting provider is not liable for content it stores for others, as long as it does not know it is illegal. Once it has received a sufficiently substantiated notice and does not act expeditiously, it can lose that protection under Article 6 DSA. In the Netherlands, many providers also follow the voluntary Notice-and-Take-Down Code of Conduct. This gives a notice real leverage, although a provider will only remove content that is clearly unlawful without a court order.

If the author is anonymous, you can ask the provider to disclose their name and address. In Lycos/Pessers (Supreme Court, 25 November 2005, ECLI:NL:HR:2005:AU4019), the Supreme Court held that a provider can be obliged to do so. The conditions are that the statements are plausibly unlawful and harmful, that you have a real interest in the data, that there is no less intrusive way to find the author, and that your interest outweighs those of the provider and the author.

A search engine can be asked to remove results about you under the right to erasure in Article 17 GDPR. This does not remove the original content, only the link in the search results, and the search engine weighs your interest against the public interest in the information. For reviews of your business, our article on when an online review becomes defamation gives more detail. Harassment campaigns are covered in our article on cyberbullying and online reputation damage.

What if the accuser or the platform is abroad?

Within the EU, you can often sue in the Netherlands if your centre of interests is here. Outside the EU, the rules on jurisdiction and enforcement differ from country to country.

Under Article 7(2) of the Brussels I bis Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012), a claim for an unlawful act can be brought in the courts of the place where the harmful event occurred. For online statements, the Court of Justice of the EU has held that you can claim your entire damage in the member state where you have your centre of interests, which is usually where you live or work. A Dutch resident can therefore often sue an accuser in another EU country before a Dutch court. Enforcing the judgment abroad is a separate step, but within the EU it is relatively straightforward.

If the accuser lives outside the EU, Dutch jurisdiction rules still apply, but enforcement depends on the law of the other country. The large platforms have European establishments and are bound by the DSA, which often makes a notice to the platform the most practical route. Our article on criminal liability for statements made on social media covers the criminal side of online statements.

When is a false accusation a criminal offence?

A false accusation can amount to defamation, libel, a malicious false complaint or a false report. Defamation and libel are only prosecuted if you file a complaint yourself.

Defamation (smaad) under Article 261 Sr is intentionally attacking someone’s honour or good name by accusing them of a specific fact, with the obvious aim of making it public. If it is done in writing or in images, it is written defamation (smaadschrift). Libel (laster) under Article 262 Sr is defamation by someone who knows that the accusation is untrue. There is no defamation if the maker acted in the public interest and could in good faith assume the accusation was true. Under Article 269 Sr, defamation and libel are complaint offences (klachtdelicten): the OM can only prosecute if you file a formal complaint (klacht).

Two further offences concern false reports to the authorities. Under Article 268 Sr, it is punishable to deliberately file a false complaint or report against a specific person, harming their honour or good name (lasterlijke aanklacht). Under Article 188 Sr, it is punishable to report an offence to the police knowing that it was not committed (valse aangifte). If you were falsely reported to the police, these provisions may apply to the person who reported you.

You file the complaint or report with the police. The OM then decides whether to prosecute. If it does, the court must be convinced of guilt on the basis of lawful evidence, which is a demanding test, especially where the accuser’s knowledge that the accusation was false must be proved. You can join the criminal case as an injured party (benadeelde partij) to claim damages. If the OM decides not to prosecute, you can file a complaint with the court of appeal under Article 12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Sv), within three months of being notified of that decision. Our article on what to do when the prosecutor does not proceed explains that route.

What if your business is the target?

A company can also bring a claim for unlawful statements about it. The same balancing test applies, and a company can claim both removal and compensation for lost turnover.

False accusations about a business often come from former employees, dissatisfied customers or competitors. A customer is entitled to share a negative experience, even in sharp terms, but not to claim facts that are untrue, such as that a company commits fraud. A competitor who spreads false claims about your products may also act unlawfully under the rules on misleading and comparative advertising in Articles 6:194 and 6:194a BW. The Court of Justice of the EU has held that a company can claim its entire damage in the member state where it has its centre of interests, which for a Dutch company is usually the Netherlands.

If the accusation came from a former employee, check the non-disclosure and conduct clauses in the settlement or employment agreement, as they may provide an extra basis for action.

What if the false accusation is made at work?

An employer must investigate an accusation carefully and hear your side before drawing conclusions. A dismissal based on an accusation that turns out to be unfounded will often not stand.

Under Article 7:611 BW, the employer must act as a good employer. A summary dismissal requires an urgent reason (Article 7:678 BW) that the employer must prove; an unproved accusation is not enough. Our article on summary dismissal based on WhatsApp messages shows how courts assess this kind of evidence.

What are the risks of legal action?

Legal action takes time, costs money and can draw more attention to the accusation. The other party may also bring a counterclaim.

A court case can lead to press coverage that spreads the accusation further. That is why many cases are settled with a written settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) that contains a rectification, a ban on repetition and a penalty clause. The other party may also argue that your own statements were unlawful and claim damages from you. Any public statement you made after the accusation will then be examined too. Sometimes a quick removal by the platform achieves more than a long case.

What should you check if you are accused?

Check your evidence and your deadlines before you respond. A claim for damages becomes time-barred five years after you learn of the damage and the person responsible (Article 3:310 BW), but summary proceedings require you to act within weeks.

• Every statement is saved with date, time, URL and author, if necessary in a bailiff’s report.
• You have not responded publicly, and any reply goes only to the audience that heard the accusation.
• The platform has received a specific notice under Article 16 DSA.
• Your financial loss, such as lost income or contracts, is documented.
• If you file a criminal complaint for defamation, you know the OM decides whether to prosecute (Article 269 Sr).

What should you check as an employer?

As an employer, you must investigate an accusation against an employee carefully under Article 7:611 BW. A summary dismissal based on an unproved accusation will often not stand.

• The employee has been heard before any conclusion is drawn.
• The investigation is confidential and its findings are recorded.
• A suspension (non-actiefstelling) lasts no longer than necessary.
• Measures are considered against a colleague who spread a false accusation.
• Internal or external statements do not name the employee or the accuser.

What can we do for you with a false accusation?

Our media lawyers handle reputation cases together with the related employment and criminal aspects.

• We assess whether the statement is unlawful and which evidence is still missing.
• We send a demand letter (sommatiebrief) for removal, rectification and an undertaking not to repeat.
• We draft the notice to the platform and request the identity of an anonymous author from the provider.
• We start summary proceedings for removal and rectification under Article 6:167 BW, backed by a penalty payment.
• We claim damages for lost income and harm to your good name under Articles 6:162 and 6:106 BW.

Summary

• A false accusation can be an unlawful act (Article 6:162 BW); a court can order removal, a rectification (Article 6:167 BW) and damages.
• Secure the evidence first, if necessary through a bailiff’s report, and do not respond publicly.
• Your own response is judged by the same balancing test; naming or shaming your accuser can make you liable.
• Online, use the notice procedure under the Digital Services Act; a provider can be ordered to disclose an anonymous author’s identity.
• Defamation and libel are prosecuted only on your complaint; a false report to the police is a separate offence.

Frequently asked questions