Now listed in Nepal, Tiktok, Viber, Vitak, Nimbuj and Popo will run live. Similarly, Telegram and Global Diary, which have submitted applications to the ministry for listing, will also be running.
What you should know
The government has banned social networks including Facebook for not being included in the list. On Thursday, the Ministry of Communication has instructed the Nepal Telecommunication Authority to ban social networks that have not been listed within the specified time frame.
The Ministry of Communications has decided to ban social media as the full bench of the Supreme Court issued a directive order in the name of the Government of Nepal to evaluate and monitor unwanted content from domestic or foreign online and social media platforms before their operation in a contempt of court case (Case No. 080-CF-0012).
Ministry's notice says, 'In accordance with the decision of the Government of Nepal (Council of Ministers) dated 2082.05.09 to comply with the said order, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has issued a public notice dated 2082.05.12 to publish a public notice on the date 2082.05.12 by giving a deadline of seven (7) days to list the social media platforms according to the 'Guidelines for Managing the Use of Social Networks, 2080' All stakeholders are informed of the fact that the Nepal Telecommunication Authority has been instructed to deactivate social media platforms within Nepal that have not contacted the ministry for listing and to reactivate them from the same moment if they are listed.'
Now which networks operate in Nepal?
Tiktok, Viber, Vitak, Nimbaj and Popo Live have been listed as requested by the government. Telegram and Global Diary have also submitted applications to the ministry for listing.
The deadline for social media platforms to be listed within seven days has expired on Wednesday night . However, till the time of preparing this news, none of the big platforms have come in contact with the Ministry for the registration process .
So far, big platforms like Meta, Alphabet, X, Reddit, LinkedIn have not contacted the Ministry for the registration process . The government warned that the social networks that are not listed in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology within the specified time will be gradually deactivated.
What does the Ministry of Communications say?
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Gajendra Kumar Thakur said that the decision of the Council of Ministers will be followed literally. He said, 'All social networks will be deactivated except 5 which have been listed and 2 which are in the process of listing.' He also said that social networks will be opened on the same day they come in the process of listing.
