Brussels wants to limit how long young teenagers spend on social media, and in The Hague the prime minister is keeping his options open. Closer to home, there is a discrimination ruling on a sauna visit, a budget setback in Amsterdam and a bookseller near Rotterdam with some unexpected customers.
EU plans a daily social media cap for younger teens
The European Commission has proposed limiting children aged 13 to 15 to one hour of social media screen time per day. The cap is part of wider plans to restrict young teenagers’ access to these platforms. If you are raising children in the Netherlands, rules agreed in Brussels could change how your family uses these apps.
Source: NL Times
Jetten keeps his coalition’s options open
Prime Minister Rob Jetten has declined to say whether his minority coalition will look to the left or the right for support. Opposition parties warn that this could lead to political drama. A minority government needs votes from outside its own ranks, so the answer will shape which policies can get through parliament.
Source: DutchNews
Sauna was wrong to turn away woman in burkini
The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights has ruled that the Zwaluwhoeve sauna and wellness business in Hierden, near Harderwijk, discriminated on the grounds of religion and gender when it sent away a Muslim woman wearing a burkini. She visited in June last year on a swimwear day, when house rules allowed swimsuits and swim shorts but not clothing that covers the whole body. The ruling is a useful reminder that house rules at leisure venues cannot discriminate.
Source: NOS
Amsterdam drops civil service savings target
In Amsterdam, alderman Biemond has had to drop a target for cutting spending on the city’s civil service, and has done so in his very first budget. His comment, as reported, was that the process has to be done properly.
Source: Het Parool
Old books from a local shop end up training AI
Nancy Schot, a second-hand bookseller in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht in the Rotterdam region, used to sell mainly to book lovers from her area. Today she ships thousands of orders to the United States, where her books are used to train AI models. “It is good business, but the books are lost this way,” she says.
Source: Rijnmond
Suspect confesses to assaults around Delft park
A 19-year-old man arrested on Monday after an indecent assault in Den Hoorn is also suspected of assaults and indecent assaults around the Delftse Hout park in Delft earlier this summer. On Thursday the Public Prosecution Service brought him before an examining judge for five incidents in total, and he has confessed to them. According to the headline, his DNA also matches.
Source: Omroep West
Netherlands Today is a curated digest: we summarise and link, the reporting belongs to the publications named. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.
Sources
- NL Times: European Commission proposes one-hour social media screen limit for 13 to 15 year olds, accessed 17 September 2026
- DutchNews.nl: Jetten refuses to pick a side as opposition warns of drama – DutchNews.nl, accessed 17 September 2026 (archived copy)
- nos.nl: Vrouw in boerkini ten onrechte uit sauna Hierden gestuurd, accessed 17 September 2026
- Het Parool: Wethouder Biemond moet doel voor bezuiniging op ambtenarij al in eerste begroting laten varen: ‘Het moet wel netjes’, accessed 17 September 2026
- rijnmond.nl: AI-bedrijven kopen boekwinkel van Nancy leeg: 'Deze boeken gaan door de shredder', accessed 17 September 2026 (archived copy)
- omroepwest.nl: Man (19) bekent aanrandingen in Delftse Hout, DNA komt overeen, accessed 17 September 2026 (archived copy)
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