Ronald Camstra, the now departed GroenLinks party leader in the Zeist city council, admitted on Thursday that he was behind a number of fake accounts on social media. Earlier in the day, he already left, but did not report at the time that he was behind the profiles that supported the ideas of GroenLinks online.
Camstra was accused by residents of Zeist of managing a number of fake profiles. He has been active in the city council since 2008 and group chairman since 2017.
The former group chairman says in a statement that he “made a stupid and naive mistake” and was active under several pseudonyms. He entered into an online conversation with himself through those profiles.
Camstra acknowledges on Thursday that he wrote a column under the pseudonym Noortje van Breukelen and received positive reactions. “Using a different name allowed me to write stories without having them directly linked to my public profile. It made me feel more free to express myself, and suddenly I got a lot of nice reactions instead of the negativity that my own profile shows. der called. That made me overconfident. “
“I did not realize enough that it is not fair, not sincere and not wise to hide behind other names,” said Camstra.
‘Disappointed in Spread Lies’
According to GroenLinks chairman in Zeist Liesbeth Raymakers, Camstra’s confession came as a shocking announcement. “We have been taken by surprise by this announcement, disappointed by the lies that have been spread and regret the damage he has caused to everyone within politics in Zeist and beyond. It was a one-man action that completely withdrawn from the rest of GroenLinks” , said Raymakers on the website of the party’s Zeist department. GroenLinks has appointed Roel van Nieuwstadt as interim chairman of the group.
In a joint response, the Zeist city council calls the use of fake accounts and false identities “reprehensible” and contrary to “our norms and values”. On February 16, the city council plans to further comment on the matter.
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