Kathmandu, 30 December 2019
Minister of Communication and Information Technology of Nepal, Gokul Baskota has said that social media should be regulated. During a discussion on the Bill for Information Technology at a meeting of the Development Committee on Sunday, Baskota defended the bill saying that cyberbullying was rampant through social networks.
“The mainstream media cannot be the subject of social media, so social media should be made responsible. In some countries, social networks have been regarded as hydrogen bombs, which shouldn’t occur in Nepal” he said.
At a long-standing meeting, Minister Baskota said the bill does not ask a social network registration but the company in Nepal must register for operation on a social network. He said that about 10% expenditure of social media takes place via Facebook boosting, out of which the government should collect some revenue thereby benefiting the nation. He said that social networks are being registered in countries like India and France as well.
In the legislature, 4 MPs wrote a note of dissent, with different opinions. Likewise, eleven representatives supported the bill which resulted in the bill being passed with a majority.
Nepali Congress MP Bahadur Singh Lama, who was present at the meeting, demanded that the points article 50, 42, 78, and 91 to 94 be removed from the bill, claiming that they had diluted the fundamental rights of the people.
Nepali Congress MP Rangvati Shahi claimed that the bill had made arrangements for disproving government opposing movements to take place online and demanded that it should be removed. She said the bill severely hampered the right to speak in democracy.
