The government has drafted a law with the provision that companies, firms or organizations that want to operate any social media platform in Nepal must obtain a mandatory license. It is mentioned in the draft that platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp, Viber, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc., which are currently in operation, must obtain a license within three months of the implementation of the said law.

In the 'Bill made to regulate the operation, use and regulation of social networks', the government has included the issue of compulsory license for the operation of social network platforms.

The government has almost finalized the bill with various provisions of fines and punishments for both platforms and general users who do not comply with the conditions. The bill, which was previously posted on the website of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology for public opinion-suggestions, is now at the stage of being registered in the Parliament by the Council of Ministers.

The proposed bill also stipulates that social media companies must renew their licenses every two years. Just like internet service providers, telecommunication companies or hydropower projects, the government is trying to get a license to operate a social network company.

Under paragraph-2 of the bill, clauses 3 to 9 include provisions such as the requirement to obtain a permit, the period and renewal of the permit, and the cancellation of the permit. Those who want to get a license should apply to the information technology department under the ministry, apply for renewal 15 days before the expiration of the license, and if the social network operating outside Nepal does not arrange a point of contact in Nepal, the license will be revoked.

Earlier, the government had issued the 'Guidelines for Regulating the Use of Social Networks, 2080' and asked the platforms to be listed under the Ministry of Communication. So far only three platforms have been listed. Even when the government repeatedly requested platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Meta and X, LinkedIn, which have the most users in Nepal, to be listed, they did not care. Now it seems that the government is ready to make the law and force them to take the permit. It has not been decided whether the KP Sharma Oli government will bring this bill through an ordinance or move it through the parliament meeting. Additional provisions of the

bill The government has drafted a bill with 5 paragraphs and 38 clauses, stating that it is necessary to make the owners and users of the

social media platform responsible and accountable for its operation and use in a dignified, safe and orderly manner as well as for regulation.

Provisions regarding the need to obtain a license to operate a social network platform are proposed from Sections 3 to 9 of Chapter 2. It has provisions up to the cancellation of the license if the social network operating from outside Nepal does not arrange a contact point in Nepal.

Chapter 2 Sections 10 and 11 have established the Information Technology Department with the main responsibility for social media management, Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Nepal Telecommunication Authority, Press Council and Information and Broadcasting Department as related agencies. The task of the concerned body is to hear the complaints of the people who are suffering from the misuse of social media. 

Chapter 4 Sections 12 to 16 contain conditions to be followed by licensees or users of social media. Not to spread content that disturbs Nepal's sovereignty, geographical integrity, national unity, independence, self-respect or national interest, to guarantee user's privacy and intellectual property rights, to ensure that financial transactions on social networks are done through the banking system, user details for investigation and crime investigation The platform has been assigned conditions such as making it available to the relevant bodies. "The department may impose a fine of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh on a person who has received a permit who does not comply with the conditions," said the bill.

A provision has been proposed in section 13 that the government can instruct the platform to remove the content from the social media and if the person or contact point who does not remove the license is fined by the department from 5 lakh to 15 lakh rupees. Section 16 contains conditions to be followed by social media users.

'Do not use insulting words, audio visuals, photo trolling, abuse or hate speech with the intention of hurting someone's reputation,' it says, 'Do not spread topics that disturb the sovereignty, integrity and national interests of Nepal.' Post, share, like, repost, live streaming, subscribe, comment, tag, Hashtags or mentions are mentioned. If this is done, the user will be fined up to 5 lakh rupees.

In the proposed provisions on offenses and punishments of Chapter 5, it is mentioned that those who commit phishing or impostor scams and sextortion or extortion will be imprisoned for up to three years or fined 1.5 million rupees or both. Cyber ​​stalking is punishable with imprisonment up to three years or a fine of up to 5 lakh rupees.

3 years or 5 lakh rupees fine for hacking someone's ID or information, 1 year imprisonment or 3 lakh rupees fine for cyber bullying, using children to send audio, video, messages, post sharing, harassing, threatening someone by doing the same, In case of shameful act, imprisonment up to 1 year or a fine of Rs 3 lakh has been proposed. 

In paragraph 6, it is said that the department will form a rapid response group (rapid response team) with experts and representatives of related agencies for the immediate protection of the rights of the victims. It is proposed in the bill to conduct awareness programs through websites, seminars and workshops, advertisements for the welfare and safety of social media users.

MPs' comments – control-oriented 

A discussion program was held recently on this bill, which was drafted by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology last year and is currently in the Council of Ministers. During this, experts commented that some of its provisions are uncontrollable, punishable and unenforceable. Even the parliamentarians who participated in the discussion were of the opinion that the proposed bill would curtail the freedom of expression provided by the constitution and that it is uncontrollable at first glance. In the discussion program organized by the Freedom Forum, Ishwari Gharti, a member of the House of Representatives of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (UML), Sushila Thing of the Nepali Congress and Nagina Yawad, along with Laxmi Tiwari of the National Independent Party expressed their views on the proposed bill. Congress MP Thing said that the proposal to ban social media platforms is a matter of interest as the Constitution itself ensures freedom of thought and expression.

'If this bill is passed as it is, there may be a situation where everyone from the Prime Minister to us MPs and you (common users) will have to be handcuffed,' she said. should have kept It is not known how this bill was born, what was its purpose. It needs more interaction.

MP Tiwari is of the opinion that the social media bill needs to be seriously reviewed and its purpose and impact need to be clarified. He insists that the provisions focusing on penalties and fines in the bill should be reconsidered.

'When making a bill, it should be clear about what its purpose is, whether it is to control problems like hate speech and cyber bullying on social media or whether it is trying to be sensitive to its activities, we need clarity on these things,' she said, 'while trying to control social media. Individuals' right to privacy was not violated. It is not appropriate to try to control it by using the terminology in the bill.' 

MP Yawad criticized this bill saying it is against the spirit of the constitution and democratic principles. She pointed out that it threatens to stifle freedom of expression and freedom of the press and lacks a broad discussion.

We are worried that democracy is not institutionalized. But we have been suppressing democratic principles and fundamental rights,' she said, 'the current provisions of this bill have raised a serious question about what kind of democracy the country needs.'   Yadav pointed out that there is a danger that the

bill will also limit the opportunities for educational and digital use. "My daughter is a computer engineer, she has been doing research using the internet and social media since class 4/5," said Yadav, "We say that education should be promoted through digital platforms, but on the other hand, we say that people of this age cannot use such platforms." Prohibition hinders the right to education. In the

program, UML MP Ishwari Gharti, who is also a member of the Communication and Information Technology Study Subcommittee under the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee of the Parliament, pledged to take active initiatives to improve the proposed draft of the Social Media Bill. "We demand that we should be included in the initial stage of drafting the bill," she said. "We will discuss with the ministry how to amend this bill." In the

program, former judge Shrikrishna Bhattarai gave a detailed presentation on the bill. He explained that the provision of 'affiliated bodies' in Section 11 should be abolished, and that the provision of government-based cases of offenses against this law under Section 31 devalues ​​the freedom of individuals. Advocate Sanjeev Ghimire commented that the

bill contains provisions to weaken the judicial process, even though there is a provision regarding compensation, it is impunity, social media must obtain a license and the administrative decision in the process of granting and revoking the license is final, and the door to judicial remedy has been closed.

"It is a common belief that service providers should not be 'liable' in the content regulation of Internet platforms," ​​Ulne said, "but this bill has made them responsible, so that they may create a mindset that they should not help the government in content regulation before the platform is canceled." .' 

Advocate Baburam Aryal also said that the provisions of the bill are unreasonable, vague and contrary to judicial principles. "We are making laws to criminalize freedom of expression," he said, "Section 12 of this bill contains conditions for obtaining permission, which looks like the conditions that the Telecommunication Authority has set for granting licenses to telecom operators." The law does not specify the conditions.'  He also raised a serious objection to the provision of setting a fine of Rs. 25 lakh to platforms that do not comply with

conditions. For example, can our government jail the CEO of Google for not removing content from YouTube? Why do we make laws that cannot be implemented?' he asked.  In the