Raswap Deputy Chairman and Member of Parliament Dr. Swarnim Wagle has said that shutting down social media is a sign of authoritarianism. He said in a program organized in Ramechhap's Manthali, 'Trying to forcefully stop the flow of information in today's digital age is like trying to punch the sun with the palm of your hand.' He also claimed that the government could not implement the government's decision due to public pressure and opposition. 

Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has accused the government of taking a decision to shut down social networks to suppress criticism against the government through social media. 

He has opposed the decision of the government through social networks and said, 'This step of the government is not only anti-constitutional, undemocratic and anti-people, but also a misinterpretation of the order given by the Supreme Court to regulate social media publishing and broadcasting.' 

Even though Dahal said this, when he was the prime minister, the government took the decision to close Tik Tok saying that it was destroying social harmony.

 

After the government's decision to close unregistered social media platforms, X has sent an email stating that he wants to be registered in Nepal. X wrote an official email to the ministry on Friday asking about the listing process. Ministry spokesperson Gajendra Kumar Thakur confirmed that X has sent an email about being listed in Nepal. X took this step after the ministry decided to close unregistered social networks in Nepal. So far X has not given any official application for registration in Nepal.

After the government decided to close unregistered social media platforms in Nepal, Nepal Telecom, a government-owned telecommunication service provider, has launched a Viber community for customer service. Due to the government's latest decision, customer service based on social media has been affected, according to Telecom. 

With the government's decision to shut down social networks, the number of people searching for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) on Google has increased.

According to Google Trends, there were no searches until 1:45 on Thursday, but it has been increasing gradually since the government's decision. Looking at Google Trends, its graph appears to have increased by 10 pm on Thursday . Similarly, the search for the word 'VPN' seems to be increasing on Friday.

There are s covered by major international media such as Al-Jazeera, AP News, Reuters, DW, TechCrunch and others regarding Nepal's decision to ban unlisted social networks. Most of the media have seen this step of the government as a restriction on freedom of expression.  Overall, the international media viewed this move by the Nepalese government as part of a global trend to regulate social media, but expressed concern about the impact it could have on freedom of expression and public access to information.

Facebook URL has been blocked in Nepal. Access to Facebook's web addresses has been blocked since Thursday night as the Nepal Telecommunication Authority instructed internet service providers to deactivate unlisted social networks. Subhas Khadka, the chief executive officer of Internet Service Providers' umbrella organization, Subhas Khadka, confirmed that URL blocking has begun following the government's directive. This has been implemented after the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology decided on Thursday to deactivate unregistered social networks in Nepal. ‘ We have already started the work of closing 26 on the list,’ He said, ‘The URLs have been blocked since yesterday. It doesn't open when browsing for facebook.com.’

 

Kathmandu. Legal experts have commented that the government's decision to deactivate unlisted social media platforms in Nepal is motivated by the intention to stop criticism. They said that the government is going to ban the social network by misinterpreting the order given by the Supreme Court to register and regulate the social network by making a law.

With the government's decision to shut down social networks, content creators have become worried. They have become worried after the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology decided to close 26 social networks including YouTube and Facebook on Thursday. 

They have been producing content such as adventure videos, 'travel vlogs', 'food vlogs' on YouTube and expressed their concern by condemning the government's actions. 

Nepal Telecom has informed that social media platforms that are not listed in Nepal have been closed. According to the request of the government to deactivate the social media platforms that are operating without listing, Telecom has informed through a notification on Thursday night that such social platforms have been closed. 

Former Prime Minister and Chairman of Nepal Samajwadi Party (New Power) Baburam Bhattarai has said that it is wrong for the government to shut down the social networks that come under the scope of tax because they did not come to be listed. 

Even though the state can regulate social networks as needed, Bhattarai said that it is wrong for the state to try to stop it in the old way when the influence of Internet and AI has exceeded the global limits. ‘ Social networks have heard that they are paying taxes by coming to the tax office. If they have been paying taxes, I don't think they should be registered again to restrict their expression,’ Bhattarai said, ‘ How did the government think? But this is an unnecessary decision. This increases the risk of increasing people's discontent and suppressing the right to information,’ he said. 

The Online Journalists Association has protested against the government's decision to close the social network and demanded immediate correction. The union called this move of the government unconstitutional, objectionable and anti-democratic and demanded immediate correction. 

In a statement signed by Shiv Prasad Satyal, president of

Online Journalists' Association, it is said - 'The government's decision to close social media such as Facebook and YouTube, which citizens have created as means of expression individually, collectively and institutionally, in the name of non-listing in Nepal, is a direct attack on freedom of press and expression.'

In the

statement, it is also mentioned that the government decision to close the social network gave an impression that the mobile service was closed during the reign of the then King Gyanendra Shah. The association has said that when the government of the parties that came from the election process and has a long democratic history is going to follow the same dictatorial path, the question of democracy itself has been raised. 

"The Online Journalists' Association cannot compromise on freedom of expression and freedom of the press," the statement said, "The government's decision to shut down social media in the name of non-listing is unconstitutional, objectionable, full of misogyny and anti-democratic."

It has been informed that social media platforms that are not registered in Nepal will not work through Ncell's internet service. 

Ncell Asiata Limited issued a notice on Thursday saying that the government has instructed to deactivate unregistered social networks in Nepal and informed that such platforms will not run on Ncell. But it has been clarified that other registered platforms including Tiktok and Viber can be run through Ncell's data service.  

Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPA), the umbrella organization of internet service providers, has started preparations for the implementation of the decision to deactivate social networks that have not been listed. Today's meeting of ISPA has made the technical committee active and will implement the decision tomorrow after discussion with the Telecommunication Authority. 

Congress leader Shekhar Koirala has objected to the government's decision to shut down social media. He objected that the government is going to shut down the social media, which is forced to face criticism because it is unable to work according to the people's wishes and its own commitment.

‘How many Nepalis will lose their livelihood due to this decision, can this government make an estimate?’ He has said, ‘I would like to request that such a step be corrected immediately and that social media be regulated in such a way as to limit it.’ 

Rujan Sarwar, META's public policy manager and contact officer for the Asia Pacific region, contacted the Ministry of Communications, and the ministry sent a list of documents that needed to be listed. 

Gajendra Kumar Thakur, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Communications, said that META asked for the details of the documents required for registration and said, 'We have sent an email giving information about the details of the documents.'

Recently, social media is not only a means of our expression but it has become indispensable for many tasks. The decision to shut down social media disrupts our daily lives. This is an unpopular decision of the government. It is not a good thing for the government to close it for various reasons. 

People get to know the news of the country and the world from the social media in the morning. You will also be deprived of notifications immediately.

Prof. Dr. Ramakrishna Regmi, Professor of Journalism, has said that the decision to close social media has put freedom of expression in crisis. He said- 'This decision of the government was not expected by the spirit of the constitution, the spirit of the press law, the spirit of the right to information. This has put the freedom of expression in crisis.' 

He said that this happened because the government did not know how to manage the

. 'Government should have been oriented towards regulation rather than control. You have to manage. Wherever there is a problem, it will be regulated. You can't put everyone in the same head.'

Rujan Sarwar, META's Public Policy Manager and Liaison Officer for the Asia Pacific region, has contacted Shaligram Parajuli, the IT Advisor to the Minister of Information and Communication, and is interested in the latest decision of the Government of Nepal. He has also asked for the list of documents required to be listed as per the government. 

According to the ministry, the government had already sent a list of necessary documents to Meta's office asking them to be listed. 

On the same day that the Ministry of Communications decided on Wednesday to deactivate unlisted platforms, our calendar has come to be listed.

‘Just because our character applied today doesn't make it inactive,’ Gajendra Kumar Thakur, spokesperson of the ministry said, ‘All those who are not listed are inactive. Deactivating is not a matter of turning on/off like pressing a switch, it will take some time as it is a technical matter.’

On the same day that the Ministry of Communications decided on Wednesday to deactivate unlisted platforms, our calendar has come to be listed.

‘Just because our character applied today doesn't make it inactive,’ Gajendra Kumar Thakur, spokesperson of the ministry said, ‘All those who are not listed are inactive. Deactivating is not a matter of turning on/off like pressing a switch, it will take some time as it is a technical matter.’

Congress General Minister Gagan Thapa has said that by deciding to shut down social media, the government has taken the opposite path. He has also demanded to reconsider the decision of the government.

‘Supreme Court has asked to make legal arrangement to evaluate, monitor, make responsible, discourage misuse of unwanted content published/broadcast on social media,’ Thapa wrote on social media, ‘Referring to this, it is not to close social media based on the guidelines, but to make necessary laws quickly. The law related to social media is under consideration in the National Assembly, let's work on it quickly and create a suitable law.’

Nepal Telecommunication Authority has sent a letter to the mobile and internet (including email) service providers with a list of social networks that will be closed due to non-listing. According to the list, from Facebook to our calendar of Nepal are included. 

List of social networks to close

: 

facebook, messenger, instagram, youtube, whatsapp, twitter, linkedin, snapchat, reddit, discord, pininterest, signal, threads, wechat, quora, tumblr, clubhouse, mastdon, rumble, mivi, vk, line, emo, jalo, our calendar, soul

Nepal Telecommunication Authority has written to the mobile and internet service provider companies with a list of 26 social networks that will be closed.  

The authority has instructed to deactivate social media platforms from Facebook to our calendar. 

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists has stated that it has drawn serious attention to the government's decision to close social media. The decision of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to close unregistered social media in Nepal from Thursday is seen as shrinking the freedom of press and expression. In a statement issued by the General Secretary of the Federation, Ram Prasad Dahal, it is said, "The Federation is surprised that the government is unable to pay attention to the fact that closing social media without any alternative will not only reduce the freedom of the press and expression, but also affect the right to information of the citizens." Although the federation is in favor of social media regulation, the statement said that the federation will never accept any media control measures that affect the freedom of press and expression.

Prime Minister's Chief Political Advisor Vishnu Rimal has made unlisted social networks inactive. He said that social networks and online platforms should be listed.  'All the social networks and online platforms that are not registered are becoming inactive,' he said on Facebook, social networks and online platforms have almost become an addiction for all of us. From the Prime Minister to the general public, it is being done to inform about their activities and exchange their feelings through dozens of statuses daily. It seems so– What if these platforms are closed somehow? He said that due to the anti-social role of some unwanted elements and the work of some irresponsible people, the honorable Supreme Court has ordered to stop the company until the company is listed as a point of contact, self-regulation and officer to hear residential complaints.