Complaining about the content of a website

Have you come across website content (words or pictures) that's clearly criminal or unlawful? Or a domain name that's clearly being used in a criminal or unlawful way? If so, you can use the Notice-and-Take-Down Procedure to get something done about it.

What is the notice-and-take-down procedure?

The Notice-and-Take-Down Procedure (NTD Procedure) is the internet industry's voluntary code of conduct for dealing with unlawful and criminal website content. That means things like child sexual exploitation material, identity fraud and the offering of illegal or stolen goods. The NTD Procedure describes the responsibilities of everyone concerned. That includes us, if the problem involves a site with a .nl domain name.

Where to go with your complaint

Start with the content provider and/or the user of the domain name. For example, the person or organisation that posted the text or shared pictures. If they don't resolve the problem, move on to the next person or organisation in the list below. Work your way down the list, contacting each person or organisation in turn.

  1. The person who put the content on the internet (uploader, writer, etc)

  2. The website manager

  3. The registrant of the domain name

  4. The reseller (hosting service provider)

  5. The domain name's registrar (hosting service provider)

  6. Us, SIDN

How do you contact the relevant people/organisations?

To contact the registrant, use the e-mail address of the domain name's administrative contact person. To contact the registrar (hosting service provider) use the abuse contact e-mail address often listed in the Whois, and/or visit the registrar's website for contact information.

What if you don't know how to get in touch with the registrant?

Not all the info that we have about a domain name's registrant is published in the Whois on our website. You can ask us to share the non-public info with you: use the Request Form for Contact Details.

What do we do if no one else will help you?

You can ask us to disable the .nl domain name involved.

  1. Download the Notice-and-Take-Down request.

  2. Complete the form in full, and sign it.

    Attach: Copies of your correspondence with other people and organisations If you're signing on behalf of a company or other organisation: evidence that you're entitled to do that (e.g. a Trade Register extract naming you)

  3. Send the form and attachments to support@sidn.nlLink opens in new tab.

  4. We'll look at your request and decide whether to intervene.

    Please note: we can't actually take down any content. All we can do is break the link between the domain name and its IP address. So it'll be harder for internet users to find the content.

Frequently asked question

Why can I still see the website content, when you have made the domain name unreachable?

Computers and search engines 'cache' content, i.e. temporarily remember things. As a result, content linked to a domain name can remain visible for a few days or weeks, even if the domain name no longer exists on the internet.