KATHMANDU, July 2: The government has approved the 'National Advertisement Policy, 2083' aiming to make the advertisement sector well-managed, transparent, responsive and tech-savvy.
The policy, endorsed by the cabinet meeting on Thursday, has pointed out the need to bring the advertisement via the traditional media along with social networking sites, digital platforms, influencer marketing and artificial intelligence to the regulatory radar.
The government shared the policy was introduced keeping in mind the increasing international competition in the advertisement market, influence of multi-national companies, rapid expansion of digital technology and the need of imparting right information to the consumers.
The policy stated enhancing the competitive capacity of local products, creating jobs in the advertising sector, expanding revenue, protecting consumer rights, and controlling obscene, violent, gender-discriminatory, and content that negatively affects children.
It also states that false and misleading advertisements will be subject to action, and compensation will be provided to consumers if they suffer any damage.
The government aims to significantly increase the contribution of the advertising sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) within the next five years.
The policy is designed to develop and expand the advertising sector, make businesses clean, competitive, respectful, and transparent, and ensure that consumers have the right to choose quality goods and services.
In order to achieve the thrust, priorities including expanding the advertising market, scientific classification of media, effective monitoring and regulation of advertisements, coordination among stakeholders, and building institutional structures have been incorporated in the policy.
Special incentives for advertising domestic goods
According to the policy, special incentives will be provided for advertising domestic goods and services, while companies selling foreign goods and services will be required to spend a certain portion of their business on consumer awareness programmes.
The government has adopted a policy to discourage the trend of presenting advertisements as news and news as advertisements. Legal and regulatory arrangements will be made to prevent situations where positive or negative news is published or broadcast based on whether advertising was given or not.
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Regulation of digital advertising
The most important aspect of the new policy is the regulation of digital advertising. The government will make self-declaration mandatory for advertisements made through social media, digital platforms, and influencers.
It has been stated that AI-generated 'deepfake' advertisements will be legally regulated.
Strict control will be imposed on advertisements that are misleading, false, or negatively affect consumers.
The government has proposed policies to strengthen self-regulation mechanisms, codes of conduct, and enforcement systems to maintain the quality of advertisements.
Social justice a priority
The policy also gives special attention to social justice. Ads that discriminate against any class, caste, religion, language, culture, community, or gender will not be allowed.
Advertisements must respect gender and sexual minorities, people with disabilities, and marginalized communities.
Moreover, ads that warrant Nepal's sovereignty, national flag, national anthem, national figures, or religious tolerance will be completely prohibited.
It has also been stated that using disasters, grief, or sensitive situations for commercial purposes will be banned.
The government has adopted a policy to make extensive improvements in the government advertisement distribution system.
Measures for transparency in advertisements
An integrated information management system will be developed to make the processes of distributing and paying for government advertisements transparent.
The policy has specified provisions to publish and broadcast local and provincial-level information and advertisements through media at the same level, and to distribute public interest advertisements proportionately and fairly.
Arrangements will be made to support media based on local languages, culture, and communities through advertisements.
Autonomous institutional framework
Under the institutional framework, the federal, provincial, and local levels will jointly implement the policy. The advertisement board will be developed as a more autonomous, empowered, and resourceful body.
Provisions have been made to form a provincial advertisement monitoring and regulation committee and a municipal advertisement committee at the local level.
Additionally, the policy has been envisioned to form a national advertising council for monitoring, regulating, and self-regulating advertisements.
An integrated information system, information bank, and classification and grading of media will be set up to make the advertising market transparent, the policy stated.
For policy implementation, there will be extensive amendments to laws, regulations, codes of conduct, and procedures related to advertising.
Arrangement of advertisement fund
An advertising fund will be established, where money received from the government, fees, advertising businesses, and various agencies will be deposited.
Programmes for advertising market development, research, data systems, information banks, media classification, consumer awareness, and capacity building for advertising professionals will be conducted from this fund.
The ministry is also set to review the policy every year and undertake a full policy review every five years.
Once this government policy is implemented, it is expected to bring significant changes to Nepal's advertising market, including digital regulation, consumer protection, government ad distribution, media classification, advertising transparency, and institutional development of the advertising industry.
In particular, the provision to clearly bring advertisements through social media and artificial intelligence under regulation for the first time lays the foundation to restructure the advertising market in a new way.
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