Kathmandu: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, tabled the social media regulation bill in the National Assembly (NA) on Sunday. Some members of media fraternity and civil society have vehemently opposed the bill saying that this could be used as a weapon to silence the opponents and to stifle the free press.
The government had on January 28 registered the document in the NA, citing it aimed to further systematize the use of social sites, making them decent and secured. Tabling the Bill, the Minister said the Bill is meant for making the operators and users of social site platforms responsible and accountable and promoting social goodwill, cultural tolerance and good governance through the appropriate and systematic use of social sites. The Bill has proposed the provisions for license (with a two-year validity) for any companies, firms or institutions to operate digital platforms and renewal of the permission, granting the rights to authorities concerned to ban on the operation of such platforms and the remove the contents in violations of the terms and conditions.
The government claims the bill is to prohibit cyber bullying, stalking and ID hacking, extortion or sextortion, dissemination of vulgar, fake or misleading contents, uploading or dissemination of deep fake videos and the use of accounts with anonymous or pseudonymous identity.
The government claims of the bill become a law it will cause a rise in the information security and privacy of personal data, cyber security, and systematization of IT related enterprises and the rise in foreign investment in this sector.
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