PVV Member of Parliament Maikel Boon denies that he is the administrator of six radical right-wing Facebook pages. He also denies that he shared racist fake photos of asylum seekers through those channels. According to the MP from Bergen op Zoom, the results from the research by the weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer are based on coincidence and ‘a lot of guesswork’. “I think this is a shame,” he responds.
De Groene Amsterdammer and the Data School of Utrecht University are firm in their conclusion. ‘Our research shows that most likely one PVV MP is behind these groups: Maikel Boon’, so it can be read.
Incendiary images are shared on social media pages alongside PVV slogans. The images are said to have been fabricated by AI and show, for example, asylum seekers depicted as angry crowds.
“It’s not me,” Maikel Boon responds, annoyed. “When you look at it all together, it’s a lot of guesswork and a lot of nonsense.” He says he has no idea how the researchers found him. “Those pages are not mine. They link a lot of things together, which can perhaps also be argued the other way,” he says. “I think it’s a shame and I’m angry about it.”
READ ALSO: Investigation: ‘MP Maikel Boon (PVV) shared racist fake photos’
According to the opinion magazine, there are several indications that show that Boon is behind the pages. For example, the pages were inactive when his own Facebook account was blocked. Also, the screenshots from one of the accounts would change to night mode at the same time as Boon’s. And on one of the pages there is a striking amount of information about veterans, such as Maikel Boon.
“I sent that article from those veterans to many pages. I do that during campaign time. But those pages aren’t mine. I wouldn’t even know where to find the time to keep six pages.”
Maikel Boon initially did not want to respond to the research when De Groene Amsterdammer gave him the opportunity to do so. Even now, he says he has not yet contacted the weekly magazine.