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The Vredehof Cemetery in Bodegraven-Reeuwijk
Photo: Robin Utrecht / picture alliance
The Dutch city of Bodegraven-Reeuwijk has sued Twitter.
On Friday, the municipality in court asked the short message service to delete all tweets relating to rumors of an alleged pedophile ring in Bodegraven-Reeuwijk.
It is said that satanic pedophiles tortured and killed children there in the 1980s.
The crude conspiracy theories have been circulating on social media since 2020.
Three men are already in custody
The testimonies of three men who have already been sentenced to prison and are currently in prison were circulated online.
Among other things, the men have made death threats against individuals, including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The rumors on Twitter had prompted dozens of people to drive to the Vrederust Cemetery in Bodegraven-Reeuwijkin last year to lay flowers there.
They left messages on graves and lawns that were removed by the community.
Mayor Christiaan van der Kamp condemned the "lies of the conspiracy theorists" in the strongest terms, as reported by RTL Nieuws.
A number of relatives of the deceased were also horrified, said the mayor.
A security service was set up to protect the tombs.
more on the subject
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The three men were ordered by the court to delete the tweets a year ago.
Which apparently didn't happen.
The lawyer for the city of Bodegraven-Reeuwijk, Cees van de Zanden, told the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrankt: "If conspiracy theorists do not remove their messages, the platforms involved must act."
kek/Reuters
