Some offenses related to information technology are associated with freedom of press and expression, business and business, it is not appropriate to put all of them under criminal offences: Taranath Dahal, former president, Federation of Nepalese Journalists
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The government has introduced a new bill that criminalizes all offenses related to information technology and cyber with strict punishment provisions. It is said that the government of Nepal will be the plaintiff in all crimes. All 22 offenses identified in the Information Technology and Cyber Bill are punishable by imprisonment and fine.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has registered the Electronic Transactions Act, 2063 Information Technology and Cyber Security Bill in the Parliament.
Gokul Baskota, the then minister of communication and information technology, introduced a bill related to information technology in the previous parliament. After the bill became controversial, Parliament could not move it forward for a long time. Finally, with the dissolution of the House of Representatives, the bill became inactive. Six years later, the government submitted a new bill to the parliament. The
bill covers issues related to digital signature, domain registration and management, information technology business, service providers, establishment of cyber security center. Cyber regulation, security and crime and punishment have been given high priority in the bill. The provision of offense and punishment has been made comprehensive. Taranath Dahal, the former president of the Federation of Journalists, says that the provisions made by the
bill regarding technology and cyber security are positive. "That is necessary, compared to the previous bill brought by the government, it seems that there are many improvements now," he said, "However, the bill carries the possibility of narrowing the freedom of press and expression due to the ambiguity on many issues."
He says that it is wrong to make all sections a single criminal offence. He said that different classifications of offenses should be made accordingly. Some issues are related to press and freedom of expression, business, it is not appropriate to keep all of them under criminal offences, he said. Dahal said that such provisions will directly affect the journalism sector.
It is said that such content should not be produced, distributed, published, disseminated or bought or sold without defining obscene content. What is pornographic material? It has not been explained,' says Dahal, 'the most victims of it can be the media and publication houses.' Dahal mentioned that there is a need for clarity in the provision that the content of communication can be collected or archived for
research purposes while it is being disseminated. Otherwise, he said, the investigating officer can intercept anywhere on the basis of intelligence.
