KATHMANDU, Nov 17: The Supreme Court (SC) is to preside over a preliminary hearing on November 20 in relation to the writ petitions filed against the government decision to ban TikTok, a popular social networking site.

About 10 writ petitions have been filed at the SC against the government's decision to ban TikTok in Nepal.

On the first day of the opening of the courts after the Tihar holidays, legal practitioners submitted writ petitions challenging the government's decision.

After registering the 10 writ petitions, the SC has scheduled the preliminary hearing for November 20 (Monday).

Spokesperson for the SC, Bhadrakali Pokharel, said, “About 10 writ petitions have been registered and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 20.”

He said that all registered writ petitions will be heard on Monday, a day after the Chhath festival holiday.

Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, advocate Swagat Nepal and others have filed separate writ petitions against the TikTok ban.

They have demanded that the government's decision should be annulled on grounds that the ban on TikTok has violated citizens' freedom of opinion and expression. The petitioners argued that the government, which was in the process of bringing a regulation to manage social networking sites, decided to ban TikTok abruptly, and that there was no legal basis for taking such a decision.

The law practitioners who submitted the writ petitions have also demanded an interim order that the implementation of the government's decision should be annulled immediately.

On the day of the preliminary hearing, the case will be heard by a single bench of justice.

A Cabinet meeting on November 13 decided to ban the social networking app TikTok in Nepal. The government decided to ban TikTok citing disruption in family relations and social harmony.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that this decision was taken by the ruling party and the main opposition party standing together to control the tendency to spread disharmony, distortion and anarchy in society.

He said that the government banned TikTok after studying the decisions taken by some of the most democratic and developed countries regarding TikTok.

Leaders of different political parties and stakeholders have expressed mixed reactions to the government's decision to ban TikTok.

Nepali Congress central committee member Min Bahadur Bishwokarma commented that the government's decision to shut TikTok was a welcome move as some activities and contents uploaded on TikTok disrupt social harmony and lead the society towards a negative path.

"The government's decision is welcome and it should be fully implemented. The decision was indispensable for individuals, society and country. It has been closed for the time being. But, it can be resumed on the basis of its need and effectiveness," said Bishwokarma.

Similarly, welcoming the government’s decision to ban TikTok, CPN (Maoist Centre)'s General Secretary Dev Prasad Gurung insisted on its full implementation. "TikTok is being misused to spread undesirable activities in the society and the government took the decision to ban it, bearing in mind its flip sides."

The government claimed that of late this social media platform was being wrongly used to spread contents capable of jeopardizing social harmony, and the spread of propaganda was causing negative effects in individuals, community and the entire system.  It has been said this social media app has been misused and such misuse has been a contributing factor to family disputes and split, divorce, social disorder and violation of individual's rights.

However, CPN-UML's parliamentary party whip Mahesh Bartaula advised the government to take a regulatory approach rather than an outright ban on the app. "TikTok has been misused, too. It has caused issues in family, society and the nation. But this should not be banned, it should be regulated by a law, instead."

Rastriya Swatantra Party's Vice President Dol Prasad Aryal is of the view of regulating the use of TiTok instead of putting a blanket ban on it.

Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa said although it is necessary to regulate the social networking sites to discourage their misuse, they should not be banned in the name of regulating them.

CPN (Unified Socialist)’s Socialist Press Organization said in a statement, "There is a need for a law to regulate social networking sites. The country requires laws to determine the criteria for the operation of social networking sites in Nepal."

Balendra Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), said that TikTok should not be banned but should be regulated.

He said, 'TikTok should not be closed as it has become a platform for many new entrepreneurs to promote their business, as well as a platform for people to showcase their hidden talents. TikTok was also helping internationalize Nepali songs and music, said Shah. 

“My request to the government of Nepal is not only to regulate TikTok, but try to monitor and regulate other social networks, bring them under the scope of taxation and develop their own mechanism to censor wrongdoings,” Mayor Shah wrote on social media.

Similarly, Nepal Telecom Authority's Chairperson Purusottam Khanal shared that WorldLink among other internet service providers have already closed TikTok while letters were sent to the remaining Internet Service Providers to close TikTok.

Social activist Bindu Pariyar opined that the government ought to keep an eye on the social networking sites by formulating laws rather than banning them.

The Federation of Computer Association of Nepal said in a statement that proper regulation of TikTok would rather support the country’s economy.

The NTA has given instructions to all ISPs and Mobile Service Providers as per the Telecommunications Act, 2053, to ban TikTok , but some service providers' networks are still continuing to allow access to TikTok, and the NTA has instructed them to stop it immediately.

Some TikTok users have appreciated the government’s decision to ban TikTok while others have expressed their dissatisfaction citing that the opportunities have been curtailed due to the ban on TikTok.

The managing company of TikTok, has written a seven-point letter to Nepal expressing its displeasure over the government's ban on TikTok in Nepal.

After TikTok was officially banned in Nepal, Ferdous Mottakin, head of the Public Policy and Government Relations of TikTok South Asia, wrote a letter to the chairman of the Telecommunications Authority, Purushottam Khanal, and demanded the reason for the ban on TikTok.

TikTok also reminded the NTA that it had held a discussion with government officials of Nepal on November 3 to regulate contents that are against the set standards. TikTok also claimed that it has removed 2.98 million Nepali videos that are against the standards.

TikTok said that people who create and share happiness through TikTok's platform have been affected by this decision of the government. 

TikTok, if used positively, is a suitable medium for connecting political parties and activists with the people. However, there is an increasing need of effective monitoring of TikTok given the growing cases of violation of personal freedom by misuse of technology and contents tending to encourage criminal activities in the society.

 
• SC
 
• TikTok
 
• NTA