The server is now live and in use at social.overheid.nl
The official announcement post by the State Secretary of Digitalisation: https://social.overheid.nl/@avhuffelen/110700825255524685
In the post she mentions that the government supports ‘value-driven’ alternatives to social media. In a letter to the house of representatives she describes Mastodon as a Digital Common Good, and that it fits in the larger strategy of the government of using ‘open source, unless’ (meaning theyll always use open source unless there is a clear explicit reason not to).
Mastodon is perfect for this type of thing as well. They have full control over the instance. They can restrict sign-ups so that official accounts are easily verifiable. It’s a terrific idea.
This is the kind of thing that could help Mastodon really take off. The only reason most people still look at Twitter is for updates from official sources.