Some lawyers and rights activists approached the Supreme Court with a writ
What you should know
Social media platforms that are not listed in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology are gradually being shut down. Internet service providers have started blocking the web addresses (URLs) of such platforms since Thursday night.
According to the service providers, the 'URL' of platforms like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn have been blocked. After the government's decision to close unlisted social media platforms, X (Twitter) has sent an email stating that it wants to be registered in Nepal.
X wrote an official email to the ministry on Friday asking about the listing process. "Despite X's inquiry, no official application has been made for registration in Nepal," said Gajendra Kumar Thakur, spokesperson of the Ministry of Communications.
Meta said that he had an informal meeting with ministry officials on Thursday regarding the social media registration process. An official said that inquiries have been made but no official request has been received.
The government issued notices five times requesting the platform to be listed since it issued the social media directory in November 2080. After the last 7-day deadline expired on Wednesday, the government has moved to close unlisted platforms.
Some lawyers and human rights activists approached the Supreme Court with a writ against the government's decision to ban social media. Information officer of the Supreme Court, Neerajan Pandey, said that a decision will be taken on Sunday about the process including the registration of the writ.
The umbrella organization of internet service providers, Ispan, has sent a letter to the Regulatory Telecommunications Authority and asked them to specify methods and procedures for such special situations.
"As consumers use VPNs to circumvent the ban, the legal and technical complexity of 'content filtering' has become inevitable for the Ministry of Information and Communication to deal with," the letter says, "considering the Tiktok ban, it is requested to form a working group of mobile and internet service providers to suggest an appropriate method."
Raswapa argued that the government's action has seriously hindered the communication rights and information flow of citizens and called the decision to close social networks a direct attack on people's rights.
RSVP has demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision to close the social network, adoption of policy-based technical and legal measures to prevent abuse, and not to take any steps to curtail civil rights in the future. Officials of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and some leaders of the ruling party have defended the move to deactivate unlisted social networks.
