Regulating the cyber-realm: how political language and framing strategies in the policy document "National Cyber Security Agenda" regulate the Dutch cyber-discourse

Abstract

This thesis is a case study of a Dutch policy document called the ‘National Cyber Security Agenda – a cyber secure Netherlands’. This policy document is established to list seven cybersecurity objectives that are labelled as crucial to respond to cybercrime. A qualitative political discourse approach is chosen to meet its purpose, whereby ‘the inclusive technique’, ‘the fear technique’, ‘motivational framing’, ‘prognostic framing’, ‘conditioning’, ‘anaphora’ and ‘referencing’ function as categories to display meaning construction in this text and expose what it implies. The analysis of political language and framing strategies fits its purpose to show that by using language as a tool to exert power, the Dutch government, the ‘Rijksoverheid’ exercises multiple political strategies by exaggerating cyber-threats, aggravating fear, and emphasising the Netherlands as a unity, whereafter the importance of cybersecurity is emphasised and predetermined solutions to achieve this are suggested. The use of “fear-mongering” techniques in combination with offering solutions and unification implies that its function is to gain support from designated parties to fulfil predetermined roles and responsibilities that are in favour of the government.