Comments
Starting Saturday, August 15, you will no longer be able to comment beneath articles on RTL.lu, RTL INFOS, or RTL TODAY. All discussion is moving to social media.
RTL Luxembourg says topic-specific debates will be centralised on their respective social media channels. Facebook, Instagram, and similar platforms will still accept comments, with certain exceptions. The decision ends years of on-site comment sections beneath news articles.
The move follows a parliamentary question submitted in June by a member of the Chamber of Deputies about moderation of comments on RTL's digital platforms. The government responded in July, and now RTL is acting.
RTL encourages users to continue following proper etiquette on social media. The law applies online just as in real life: calls to hatred, racism, discrimination, and false generalisations remain prohibited. The publisher asks everyone to verify information, check sources, and substantiate claims before posting or sharing.
For problematic content on RTL's social media pages, users should report directly to the platform operator and also message RTL. Simply mentioning a concern in the comments or tagging RTL is not sufficient, given the volume of posts and tags.
RTL is not abandoning reader engagement entirely. Websites will still offer polls, direct questions, article ratings, and letters to the editor. Radio programmes like "Dir hutt d'Wuert" continue to invite listener input. On television, the "Sonndesfro" and "Politmonitor" polls, conducted with Luxemburger Wort and ILRES, will carry on.
The shift raises a question: what happens to the readers who commented on-site but never migrated to Facebook or Instagram? A comment section beneath an article attracted people who came for the story. A social media thread attracts people who came for the platform. They are not always the same audience.