Online Racism in the Netherlands: How Instagrammers reacted to #BlackLivesMatterNL and #BLMNL in 2020

This study provides an insight into the Dutch narrative of support and resistance to #BlackLivesMatterNL and #BLMNL, by conducting a qualitative content analysis on Instagram posts using these hashtags in 2020. In 2020, numerous people in the Netherlands decided to share their thoughts about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. The biggest part of these people supported the movement and the people posting about it, especially on personal Instagram accounts with few followers. Here, mostly likeminded people communicated with each other. However, on bigger, corporate accounts there was much more discussion and conflict around BLM in the comment section. Here, a more diverse public came together. The comments on these corporate accounts included countless racist comments, which can be linked to white supremacy, white innocence, and white ignorance. This study shows that there still is much work to do in fighting online racism in the Netherlands.