Website blocking in the Netherlands rests on court orders and sanctions: piracy sites such as The Pirate Bay are blocked after rulings won by the anti-piracy group BREIN, and RT and Sputnik under EU sanctions.
Every day we open 67 of the world’s biggest sites and apps from home internet connections in the Netherlands, and record what’s blocked, since when and how.
0 of 67 testedsites and apps with a confirmed block in the Netherlands
67 of 67 results confirmed in the last 48 hours.
Tests are requested on KPN and Ziggo home connections.
The Pirate Bay case set the pattern. BREIN, which acts for rights holders, sued Ziggo over the site in 2010; the Supreme Court asked the EU Court of Justice for guidance, and after that court ruled in June 2017 that running such a platform can infringe copyright, the Amsterdam appeal court ordered Ziggo and XS4ALL to block The Pirate Bay on 2 June 2020. That October a court in Lelystad extended the block to its proxies and mirrors.
Since 25 October 2021 a covenant negotiated with the government’s help has spread each ruling across the market: when a court, in a contested case brought by BREIN, orders one member provider to block a pirate site, the others follow, from KPN, Ziggo, T-Mobile, Delta Fiber and M7 to 16 smaller providers represented by NLconnect. The competition regulator ACM said it would not proactively enforce net-neutrality rules against these blocks. In March 2024 the list grew to the shadow libraries Anna’s Archive and LibGen.
RT and Sputnik have been off limits under EU sanctions since March 2022: Ziggo’s block page tells visitors that sanctioned parties’ websites may not be passed on and that VodafoneZiggo is obliged to carry out the sanctions. Providers carry that block out in their own name lookup (DNS), which many of our test machines don’t use, so our daily test can find www.rt.com opening. Dutch law otherwise limits interference: in 2012 the Netherlands became the first European country to write net neutrality into law, restricting when providers may inspect, block or cut off traffic.
Child sexual abuse and terrorist material is tackled at the source. Since 1 July 2024 a law has let the ATKM regulator order hosting companies to remove child sexual abuse material or make it inaccessible, and impose fines or penalty payments on those that refuse; the ATKM also enforces EU rules against terrorist content online.
Are VPNs legal in the Netherlands?
VPNs are legal in the Netherlands, and Veiliginternetten.nl, an online-safety initiative of the economic affairs ministry and the National Cyber Security Centre, recommends one on public networks.
Key dates
A new law lets the ATKM regulator order hosting firms to remove child sexual abuse material, and fine those that don’t.
A Rotterdam court orders a Dutch provider to block the shadow libraries Anna’s Archive and LibGen; the other big providers are expected to follow.
EU sanctions bar RT and Sputnik, obliging Dutch providers such as Ziggo to block their websites.
A covenant takes effect under which nearly all Dutch providers follow a court order against one of them to block a pirate site.
The Amsterdam appeal court orders Ziggo and XS4ALL to block The Pirate Bay, ending a case BREIN began in 2010.
The EU Court of Justice rules in BREIN v Ziggo that running a platform such as The Pirate Bay can infringe copyright.
Get past a block
Blocked in the Netherlands?
A VPN connects you through a server in another country, so the blocks in the Netherlands no longer apply. Where VPNs themselves are blocked, you need one that can disguise its traffic.
NordVPN
Our top pick
Obfuscated servers for networks that block VPNs
Connects you through a server in another country
Encrypts what your internet provider could otherwise see
We earn a commission if you buy through these links. It never changes what the monitor shows. Our disclosure.
History
Changes in the Netherlands
No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.
Method
How we test
Test machines on KPN and Ziggo home connections open each site’s homepage every day.
A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
We test websites, mostly over home broadband. Apps, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.
Yes, by court order. On 2 June 2020 the Amsterdam appeal court ordered Ziggo and XS4ALL to block it, ending a case the anti-piracy group BREIN brought in 2010, and a Lelystad court added its proxies and mirrors that October. Under a 2021 covenant, the other big providers follow such orders.
Why Is Anna’s Archive Blocked in the Netherlands?
In March 2024 the Rotterdam District Court, at the request of the anti-piracy group BREIN, ordered a Dutch internet provider to block the shadow libraries Anna’s Archive and LibGen, with a dynamic order that covers new domains. Under the 2021 blocking covenant, the other large Dutch providers were expected to apply the same block.
Does the Netherlands Have Net Neutrality?
Yes. In 2012 the Netherlands became the first European country to write net neutrality into law, and EU net-neutrality rules now apply as well. They still allow court-ordered blocks: when the 2021 piracy covenant was agreed, the competition regulator ACM said it would not proactively enforce the rules against blocks made under it.
