The government should have been more curious about corona skeptics, writes the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) in an report published Friday. “Interesting in people’s underlying concerns and entering into a conversation can lead to more mutual understanding.”
The SCP researchers have carried out a major study to find out what the government can do to improve relations with distrustful citizens. To do this, they conducted a survey, an analysis of media coverage and a series of interviews.
About 3 percent of the population thinks that not the Dutch government, but international parties determined corona policy, the SCP estimates. Doubts about the effectiveness of vaccines or the intentions behind the measures are prevalent among 10 to 15 percent.
Disinformation
Trust in the government is important in a crisis such as the corona pandemic, but so is criticism of the government, the SCP argues. Even information that has been proven wrong need not be a problem for democracy. Such disinformation can “contribute to useful contradiction and challenge the government to critically examine its own considerations.”
So the question is where to draw the line between critical and harmful viewpoints. “The government should not prescribe the truth,” says the SCP, but it should ensure conditions in which citizens can find the truth themselves.