Nepal proposes registration of social networks

THE BILL CALLS UPON SOCIAL NETWORKS LIKE FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM TO GET REGISTERED IN NEPAL. IF THEY FAIL TO DO SO, KATHMANDU WILL HAVE THE POWER TO BLOCK ACCESS TO THE PLATFORMS

KATHMANDU:THE K P Oli government has proposed to bring in a controversial bill that aims to make it compulsory for social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp and Viber to get registered in Nepal in order to operate.

As per the proposed Information Management Bill, Kathmandu will have the power to block social media platforms that don’t go through the registration process.

The proposal has drawn flak from the local media as well as the public.

Kathmandu, however, has defended the proposed bill, citing it as a step that it claims is rightly being taken in many other parts of the world.

Rights activists have argued that it will curtail “online freedom of speech and increase the surveillance of personal data”.

The definition of “social network” in the bill includes communication technology-based platforms where people and entities interact and share content.

Gokul Baskota, Nepal’s information and communication minister, said, “All these social (media) sites are being registered in many democracies and countries that have excellent freedom of speech. So why shouldn’t they be registered in Nepal?”

Last October, Nepal had closed down more than 20,000 websites for containing “obscene and harmful” content.