Why the investigative article about the duty of confidentiality at TU Delft is still offline

The piece entitled How confidentiality led to anxiety among I&IC staff and a loss of confidence in the Rector appeared online minutes before midday on Monday 15 April. Just over eight hours later, the Editorial Office removed it under protest. There seemed to be no other choice as TU Delft held the Editor in Chief personally responsible for any damages that TU Delft may incur as a result of the article.

The argument presented was that the Editor in Chief, as a staff member of TU Delft, is not allowed to quote confidential documents. The journalistic need to do so, that was explained in detail in the article itself, appeared to not meet TU Delft’s Legal Services’ requirements.

After the article was removed, Delta explained the reasons for doing so in another piece. One day later the Executive Board offered its apologies. It said that the order should never have been given and that as an independent journalistic medium, Delta itself decides on the content of its articles.

Legal advice

In the statement from the Executive Board, the Editorial Board and the Editor in Chief did not see the option of republishing the article without risking a new summons. They asked for support, preferably unconditional support and otherwise the most extensive within the legal framework.

Discussions are underway on how this can be arranged. In the meantime, two members of the Editorial Board and the entire Executive Board have had a discussion which they all experienced as constructive. One outcome is that joint legal advice is being sought about republication. Once this has been received and considered, the Editorial Office and the Editorial Board will take a decision.