KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The government has introduced a bill to impose stricter regulations on the use of social media.
On Monday, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology presented the bill in the House of Representatives, which aims to regulate the operation, use, and monitoring of social media and mandates that social media platforms must obtain government approval to operate.
The bill also includes provisions for penalties ranging from Rs 2.5 million to Rs 10 million if users fail to disclose their true identity or if authorized individuals do not comply with the stipulated conditions.
Amid concerns over various political parties and interest groups regarding the uses of social media as a tool for spreading misinformation, the government has introduced a bill with stringent measures.
The bill introduces a new provision requiring companies, firms, or organizations seeking to operate social media platforms to obtain government approval. Social media platforms are defined in the bill as apps, websites, blogs, AI tools, and similar platforms created in cyberspace that allow interaction through electronic means.
It proposes penalties ranging from Rs 2.5 million to Rs 10 million for individuals who, after obtaining government approval, allow the use of social media platforms for activities such as promoting anti-national views, defaming individuals, violating personal privacy, or permitting users to hide their real identities.
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On the other hand, social media users who fail to comply with legal requirements could face fines of up to Rs 500,000. The bill specifically prohibits the use of offensive words, images, videos, and trolling with the intent to insult or degrade someone’s reputation. Additionally, it mandates punishment for those engaging in "hate speech," which refers to content that incites violence or hatred against individuals, groups, or communities, or disrupts social harmony. "Hate speech" includes posting, sharing, commenting, live streaming, reposting, tagging, or using hashtags and mentions to spread such content. Those involved in spreading false and misleading information, distorting facts, or sharing prohibited content could also face a fine of Rs 500,000 as a penalty.
As per the proposed bill, social media users who post, share, like, repost, live stream, subscribe, comment, tag, hashtag, or mention content with malicious intent will face a corresponding penalty. This provision will also affect the media. Anyone who engages in activities that incite hatred or hostility against nationality, sovereignty, territorial integrity, religion, culture, ethnicity, or class will face a punishment of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to Rs 500,000, or both.
Similarly, the bill proposes a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 300,000, or both, for cyberbullying, which is defined as using social media to send, post, share, or harass others with harmful words, phrases, letters, symbols, images, pictures, sketches, photos, videos, signals, or messages that violate the law.
Additionally, for cyberstalking, a penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of Rs 500,000, or both is proposed. Cyberstalking includes actions like making false accusations, surveillance, and violating personal privacy using internet technology.
Similarly, if someone's ID and information are hacked, the proposed penalty is up to three years in prison, a fine of Rs 1.5 million, or both. The bill also proposes a penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of Rs 1.5 million, or both for phishing or imposter scams using social media. "Phishing" refers to the act of deceiving someone through electronic communication to obtain their username, password, credit card number, bank account details, or similar information. "Imposter scam" refers to deceiving someone by pretending to be someone else and asking for money after gaining access to personal passwords and sensitive information in exchange for promises of gifts or rewards.
Similarly, the bill proposes a penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of Rs 1.5 million, or both for committing sextortion or extortion through the use of social media. Sextortion refers to the act of threatening to publicly share or distribute someone’s personal pictures, audio, or video via social media, or coercing them into sexual exploitation, financial gain, or violence.
Extortion refers to the act of using social media to intimidate someone, causing them to fear harm to themselves or others, in order to unlawfully obtain a benefit for oneself or others, or forcing them to act with the intention of securing such a benefit.
Posting or sharing obscene images, audio, or videos on social media will result in up to three months of imprisonment, a fine of up to Rs 50,000, or both. Similarly, anyone using social media to spread obscene words, images, signals, videos, audio, false or misleading information, or to propagate, distort, or comment on such information will face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to Rs 300,000, or both.
Uploading or spreading deepfake videos using social media will result in up to two years of imprisonment, a fine of up to Rs 300,000, or both. A deepfake video refers to using artificial intelligence to mimic or replace a person's face, voice, or behavior to spread false information, promote obscenity, or damage someone's character.
Similarly, anyone who creates an anonymous or fake identity (such as fake IDs, pages, or groups) or impersonates someone else on social media, produces and posts or shares content through such anonymous or fake identities, shares someone else's content, or makes comments or calls will face up to three months of imprisonment, a fine of up to Rs 50,000, or both. If an anonymous or fake identity is used to carry out activities against national interests, the penalty will be up to five years in prison, a fine of up to Rs 1.5 million, or both.
A person who commits the same offense more than once will face double the penalty for each subsequent offense. If a person holding a public office or receiving benefits from the state treasury commits an offense under this law, they will face an additional penalty of up to 50 percent. If a person commits an offense under this law by using children, they will face an additional imprisonment of up to one year. A person acting as an accomplice in the commission of an offense under this law will receive half of the penalty imposed on the main offender.
According to Section 5 of the bill, cases of offenses will be considered under Schedule 1 of the National Criminal Procedure (Code) Act, 2017. The bill also provides for compensation from the offender if any harm is caused due to the offense. However, claims must be filed within three months of awareness of the offense.
The department overseeing information technology issues has provisions to ban platforms that operate without the required permission or whose licenses have been revoked from operating in Nepal. Individuals who operate or facilitate the operation of such banned platforms will be fined up to Rs 2.5 million.
