Speaking at the 'Digital Rights Summit 2025' on Friday, Secretary Radhika Aryal said that a bill related to social media regulation has been registered in the National Assembly and she urged suggestions on it.
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Radhika Aryal, Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, has said that social media should be regulated by law and not on an ad-hoc basis.
Speaking at the 'Digital Rights Summit 2025' held in Lalitpur on Friday, she said that the bill on social media regulation has been registered in the National Assembly and urged for suggestions on it.
In a self-review of the relationship between the government and the citizens, Secretary Aryal opined that there is less dialogue and communication between the government and the citizens. She said that the lack of dialogue has created a gap between what the citizens want and what the government is trying to do. 'Continuous dialogue, interaction and discussion are necessary to bridge this gap,' she said.
According to Secretary Aryal, the ministry has already drafted a bill on social media and submitted it to the National Assembly. She requested stakeholders to provide suggestions on the provisions that need to be included in the bill or need to be amended.
'Regulation of social media is necessary and it should be regulated by making laws rather than going through ad-hoc decisions,' she said. In addition, she said that the ministry has also formulated a bill on information technology and cyber security. "Even if this bill reaches the parliament, we have to start from scratch again due to the dissolution of the House of Representatives," she said.
Secretary Aryal also pointed out the need for other legal arrangements for the safe use of technology. She said that the AI Policy Ministry has implemented and now there is a need for an AI-related act and a Data Protection Act. She said that it is necessary to increase digital literacy at the community level for digital inclusion and equality.
