Thousands of people advise each other in Telegram groups to live autonomously. They do not recognize the authority of the government and believe that they do not have to meet financial obligations, such as paying fines or certain taxes.
Founders of the groups often make their money by selling courses, sample letters or fake passports. This is what the journalistic research platform writes Pointerwhich analyzed nearly 100,000 messages from seven public and five private Telegram groups.
Autonomous people share their advice with each other. The conversations are, for example, about experiences with bailiffs and collection agencies. In some cases, private information of bailiffs is sought or violence is called for.
According to Pointer the group of people who want to become autonomous is increasing. Professor Jan Brouwer of the University of Groningen calls on the Public Prosecution Service to investigate. He says that people who allow themselves to be incited commit criminal offenses. The group that ends up in debt is also increasing.
Pointer asked the twenty largest municipalities in the Netherlands about their experiences with autonomous citizens. Fifteen municipalities say that officials regularly receive impossible requests from people who no longer want to pay taxes to the municipality. These are often several dozen citizens per municipality.