On 17 September 2026, PublicSpaces and 37 organisations sent a joint letter to the House of Representatives and the Cabinet. The call: protect European organisations and their users against foreign sanctions pressure, now that US sanctions are increasingly hitting innocent European parties too.
What is going on?
Freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom of printing have been enshrined in the Dutch Constitution since 1848. A democratic state under the rule of law can only function if these freedoms are properly safeguarded. That is why it is worrying that the US government is using sanctions to silence ideological opponents. Sometimes it does so directly, as with the judges of the International Criminal Court, and sometimes indirectly, as with the internet service Autistici/Inventati (A/I).
On 26 August, the US sanctions authority OFAC added the Italian internet provider A/I to a sanctions list. A/I provides web hosting and email to some 20,000 activist groups worldwide. The US government claims that A/I provides digital infrastructure to violent anti-fascist groups, which A/I denies. The effects followed quickly. On 28 August, autistici.org was blocked by Public Interest Registry, the US operator of the .org domain. On 8 September, the Italian bank Banca Etica announced that it would terminate its services to A/I within ten days, fearing that it would otherwise be cut off from the US Visa payment system itself.
A/I has since ceased its activities. This was not mainly because it lost its bank account, as the organisation had already prepaid its cloud services for two years. It stopped to avoid secondary sanctions for “material support” to the organisations and individuals connected to it. The International Criminal Court judges based in the Netherlands had a similar experience. Once they were placed on a US sanctions list, no European bank would serve them. This is a direct result of European payments depending on US networks such as Visa and Mastercard.
These concerns are no longer hypothetical: a Dutch internet provider says it no longer accepts work from the International Criminal Court. On 14 September, MPs Kathmann and El Boujdaini submitted written questions on this to the State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. With this letter, we support those questions and widen the picture. What is happening to the Court is happening just as much to civil society organisations, to their hosting and domain names, and to their payments.
Our call: five measures
In the letter, we call on the House and the Cabinet to take five measures:
1. Invest in independent European digital infrastructure
Make building an independent European digital infrastructure a high priority, and stimulate open-source Dutch and European alternatives for cloud, social media and payments. Let the government lead by example by hosting government services within the EU, while preserving open standards and one global internet.
2. Take diplomatic action
Speak out against the disproportionate consequences of extraterritorial sanctions for European service providers and their users. Raise this urgently with the US government, preferably at the European level. Also assess what role the European Anti-Coercion Instrument can play in countering pressure on the European internet sector.
3. Arrange European legal protection and practical support
Examine extending the Blocking Statute, which currently only covers certain US measures relating to Cuba and Iran. Also set up a point of contact, legal assistance and practical support. As long as precautionary compliance remains the safest option, protection exists only on paper.
4. Protect banking services for organisations and businesses
Provide additional protection for organisations and businesses that lose banking services because of foreign sanctions. This should include individual assessment, stated reasons and a fast objection procedure with banks and supervisory authorities, while keeping existing sanctions and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules in place.
5. Secure digital and financial services for the International Criminal Court
In keeping with the Netherlands’ responsibility as host state, draw up an interministerial plan that keeps digital and financial services available to the Court, with the Court, banks and Dutch suppliers at the table.
What are we asking of the Cabinet?
We ask the Cabinet to respond on immediate assistance in the event of imminent service disruption. This response should come together with the answers to the parliamentary questions of 14 September, and in any case before the committee debate on Digital Government and Oversight on 30 September. We also ask for a plan within six weeks with concrete measures, responsible ministers and timelines, and we ask the House to include this letter in that debate.
Full letter to the House of Representatives
Co-signed by
Internet Society Nederland, Bits of Freedom, Waag Futurelab, NextCloud, Freedom Internet, SETUP, IMPAKT, Dutch Cloud Community, Mentaal.nl, BovenJan, Greenhost, Soverin, DOSBA, Mediamatic, DoeiDag, Framer Framed, OID Foundation, Open State Foundation, The Good Cloud, EYE, Post X Society, NLUUG, CODE for NL, Gebiedonline, Stichting Privacy by Design, Coalitie Eerlijk Digitaal Onderwijs, Tetem, Open Nederland, Human Rights in Finance.EU, Privacy First, BIT, MU, The Firewall, Speakup, Nederlands Juristen Comité voor de Mensenrechten and Stichting Democratie en Media.
Co-signed by
Internet Society Nederland, Bits of Freedom, Waag Futurelab, NextCloud, Freedom Internet, SETUP, IMPAKT, Dutch Cloud Community, Mentaal.nl, BovenJan, Greenhost, Soverin, DOSBA, Mediamatic, DoeiDag, Framer Framed, OID Foundation, Open State Foundation, The Good Cloud, EYE, Post X Society, NLUUG, CODE for NL, Gebiedonline, Stichting Privacy by Design, Coalitie Eerlijk Digitaal Onderwijs, Tetem, Open Nederland, Human Rights in Finance.EU, Privacy First, BIT, MU, The Firewall, Speakup, Nederlands Juristen Comité voor de Mensenrechten and Stichting Democratie en Media.
More information on our stance and the status? Send an email to info@publicspaces.net
