Nepal's Social Media Bill faces protest from ruling party's student union

Standing against the provisions stated in the bill regarding operation, use and regulation of social network, the student union held a demonstration about how the bill will curtail basic human rights.

The demonstrators tied themselves to the supposedly human form of the bill in action imprisoning youths for making comments against the government on social media amongst others.

"Homonymous words have been used in the Social Media Bill. The word 'libel and defamation' has been used in the bill, but the parameters to identify it hasn't been mentioned. In absence of it, anyone can be jailed depending on the power of the person who gets offended. Another contrasting provision in the bill is the formation of council to decide about these things, that too by officials from the Secretary or joint secretary level, it is the court who should be sending the convicted to jail but the mechanism is being granted this right to convict someone or give the term for jail," Kiran Khanal, one of the members of the NSU who took part in the protest told ANI.

The protestors held placards that read, "One star of Congress is missing", "Dear KP Ba, can't we speak in a prosperous Nepal?", "Regulation is necessary, not control", among others.

Several provisions in the bill contradict Nepal's constitution, while vague and incomplete terminologies raise concerns. Critics fear the government will exploit these loopholes to interpret the law in its favor. Another major concern is the government's direct role as the plaintiff in all related cases, giving authorities greater control over how they define and enforce the law.

The bill requires a Rapid Response Team to handle such proceedings. Typically, authorities form these teams when immediate action is needed in the public interest, such as during natural disasters. However, the government has introduced a provision to create one specifically for this purpose.

The bill directly violates Articles 17 and 19 of the Constitution of Nepal. Article 17 guarantees the right to freedom, stating, "No person shall be deprived of personal Liberty."However, the bill does more than restrict personal freedom--it actively penalizes individuals for posting, sharing, liking, reposting, live streaming, subscribing, commenting, tagging, using hashtags, or mentioning others on social media.

Clause 16 (2) of the bill explicitly prohibits individuals from engaging in these activities with malicious intent: "One must not post, share, like, repost, live stream, subscribe, comment, tag, use hashtags, or mention others on social media with malicious intent."

While the bill clearly criminalizes liking or commenting, it fails to define 'malicious intent', leaving its interpretation ambiguous. Since the bill does not clarify the term's scope or meaning, anyone accused under this provision could simply claim, "I had no malicious intent," making enforcement arbitrary and subjective.

The bill also includes a provision that allows for a fine of up to Nepali Rupees (NRs) 5,00,000.

"The government mechanism which has been conceptualized by the bill, it is sure that the body would work in the favor of the government whosoever is in power. Who will decide about the sentences? It would be a gazette staff from the ministry, if it would have had the provision that stipulates the court then it would have been accepted. On the contrary, whenever the government feels offended, it can take actions against someone right on the spot, we are completely against it and will fight back," Sushant Acharya, a student leader taking part in the protest told ANI. (ANI)