The leaders of the major political parties have promised to pass the social media bill registered by the government in the parliament only after discussing it with the stakeholders. While the proposed provisions of the bill are being criticized for controlling social media users, the party's chief whips are of the opinion that the bill should control the medium, but should not regulate rights.

In a discussion program organized by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists in Kathmandu to draw attention to the issue of the bill, the opposition party's whistleblowers alleged that the government's bad intentions were reflected in the draft of the bill.

However, the leaders of the ruling party said that there is no difference of opinion on the need of the bill and emphasized that a conclusion should be reached after discussing the contents of the bill registered in the parliament.

At the beginning of the discussion, the general secretary of the federation Ram Prasad Dahal said that the federation demanded that the proposed provisions of the bill should be withdrawn and rewritten, saying that the proposed provisions of the bill seem to be more control-oriented than regulatory and that they stifle the freedom of press and expression. He also warned that if the provisions of the bill were to be passed by the parliament in the current state, the federation would start a movement. 

Hitraj Pandey, the chief whip of the main opposition CPN-Maoist Center, who previously stood in favor of withdrawing the bill, also alleged that the draft of the bill was motivated by selfishness. "Making laws is for stakeholders, not for the government". But the government has done it under the influence of interest groups without even consulting the stakeholders while drafting it," said Pandey, "the bill cannot be passed in this situation. Since the government has advanced the bill in the parliamentary process, now the bill will be passed only after word-by-word discussion." "The matter of creating laws related to the regulation of social networks is old". But the current government's bill emphasizes control, not regulation," he said. "In this situation, the bill cannot be passed. If there is such a mishap, I think the users will do the rest themselves.'

The main whip of the ruling party CPN-UML, Mahesh Bertaula, claimed that there was false propaganda that the government was going to create a law related to social media inspired by the purpose of control.

'The way social media has been misused, everyone has been affected by it . Therefore, I do not think that there is a difference of opinion on the need of the bill," said Bertaula, "however, it cannot be denied that the parties and the society are divided over the proposed issues of the bill. But it is not brought with wrong intention to control the user . Again, the sovereign parliament has yet to act on it.

He said that the government is ready to discuss with the stakeholders on the impractical and difficult provisions in the bill and reach a conclusion. He said that the government is ready to correct the bill if there are some provisions that are contrary to the constitutional rights.

'This bill cannot prohibit the fundamental rights given by the constitution . It is not an attempt to curb freedom of press and expression. By creating a law, we are trying to control social media, not to regulate rights,' Chief Whip Bertaula said, 'Even if a provision causes such a problem, let's discuss it, amend it and move the law forward.'

"The government has introduced a bill". There is no doubt about its necessity. But what provisions should be included in the bill is being discussed within our own party. There is no situation to pass the same bill as the government brought it. We are ready to reach the end only by discussing it with experts and stakeholders, and by having a comprehensive discussion within the party,' she said, 'Nepali Congress is a party that fought for freedom, there is no work on the part of the Congress to curtail any freedom of the citizens.' He said that there is a need to move forward.

'This bill is proposed to be contrary to the provisions of the constitution . It has come to violate the freedom of press and expression of citizens. The bill will not be introduced in a way that is against the constitution, democracy and human rights. It is not allowed to bring,' he said.

Gopi Bahadur Achami, chief whip of CPN Maoist Center in the National Assembly, expressed his displeasure that the government drafted the bill without discussing it with stakeholders. He said that because the government has enacted laws that do not address the problems and needs of the stakeholders, the reality that there are problems in implementation should be exposed.