True. One of our 'sort of' news outlets that's quite popular (they just rehash most stories from other sources) called Nu.nl recently took the action of blocking comments that denied climate change. It's of course a private company who did this, but their stance is that there is enough proof it's happening and don't want to blur the discussion with (a lot of) trolls or people who might start to believe it's 'just a hoax' because they keep on reading people telling it's a 'hoax'.
Here's the translation of their statement:
27 februari 2019 11:30
The denial of climate change or man's influence on it is no longer allowed at NUjij. Comments that do so will be deleted.
You may disagree with the government's climate plans at NUjij, we encourage a critical discussion about the extent to which the Netherlands can make a difference, and you may also explain that you think that climate change is already too advanced to be able to do anything about it.
Only reactions in which climate change - or human influence on it - is denied are no longer permitted on NU.nl.
Responsible for reliable information Making sure that NUjij responses are actually correct is part of our job of actually covering the news. NU.nl has a responsibility to provide visitors with reliable information.
Therefore, from the start of NUjij, it is not permitted to spread falsehoods. We have chosen to do this because NU.nl's responses are read millions of times a month and are therefore an important part of our information offering.
The denial of climate change is also part of spreading falsehoods. There is undeniable scientific evidence that the earth is warming and that mankind is influencing it. Recently, several studies have been published in which it has been established that climate change is a fact. You can read more about this in this article about human influence and in this article about the consequences of climate change.
Moreover, we think it is very important that there is room for a critical debate on solutions to climate change at NUjij. After all, everyone will have to deal with this. Truths stand in the way of that debate.
Clear house rules Of course it is allowed to disagree with (parts of) a message. At NUjij there is room for reactions from all political movements. It is also not the case that our editorial staff censors inconvenient opinions or facts. NU.nl has always been neutral and objective and will continue to be so.
With NUjij, we want to offer a discussion platform that adds something to the news provision on NU.nl. Content-related discussions about the news may add new insights to our messages, thus creating a more diverse NU.nl.
In order to ensure that these discussions run smoothly, we have decided from day one to draw up clear house rules.