KATHMANDU, Jan 17: Police have arrested two “fraudsters” on the charge of duping people through social media.

Fatima Ali was in her final year studying to become a medical analysis specialist when Iraq imposed a full lockdown in March. Forced by a raging pandemic to stay home, she spent her days on social media, looking for something to do with her time.

KAMPALA, Jan 12:Uganda banned social media and messaging apps on Tuesday, two days ahead of a presidential election pitting Yoweri Museveni, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, against opposition frontrunner Bobi Wine, a popular singer.

Deepika Padukone left her legion of fans in shock as she deleted all her tweets and Instagram posts on December 31 night. The actor, who is quite prolific on social media, has zero posts and tweets as of now.

Actress Lisa Ray is taking a break from social media to reflect back on the learning of the year. The actress took to Twitter to share her decision, and revealed that it is time for “sacred reflection”.

Influencers need to be aware of this power of influence and use that power responsibly, not simply to monetize their name and brand.

Cancel culture functions on bandwagon and mob mentality. Even baseless accusations on innocent people are sensationalized for the clout, often by third parties.

With lifestyle swinging uncomfortably with the new normal where education, communication, business and even life are dependent on gadgets, we need to outline protocol for the new normal living.

KATHMANDU, Sept 23: The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred more Nepali businesses to start using internet, social media or digital platforms to seize business opportunities, in the wake of declining traditional sales, a survey said on Wednesday.

The Mumbai Police have said that rapper Badshah paid Rs 72 lakh for additional views on one of his music videos, in a bid to break a viewership record. The rapper is being questioned in connection to a racket that sells fake followers and views to social media influencers. He has denied any wrongdoing.

KATHMANDU, June 8: A recent survey has found that only one in a hundred Nepalis trusts the social media platforms.

KATHMANDU, April 23: The District Court, Kathmandu, on Thursday allowed the police to keep former secretary Bhim Upadhyay in custody for three more days.

KATHMANDU, April 23: Nepal Tarun Dal (NTD), the youth wing of the main opposition Nepali Congress, on Thursday demanded the immediate release of former government secretary Bhim Upadhayay.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, April 20: Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news content in Australia, the government said on Monday as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.

KATHMANDU, April 10: When India's Modi government was struggling to calm down the country's Muslim population over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) bill late December last year, PM KP Sharma Oli's twitter handle (@PM_Nepal) “accidentally” retweeted a tweet (by Indian journalist @DilliDurAst) where Sonia Gandhi was criticizing Modi for crackdown on protests. This was December 20, 2019.

First it was about what prevents people from contracting coronavirus: Take a little bit of alcoholic drinks, eat garlic and turmeric, take some cow urine, even dung.  Then it shifted to what causes the infection: the person who lives and comes from the country affected by the virus.  So there was racial attack on people who looked like Asian, Chinese to be particular, and they were insulted and even blamed to be the carriers of the disease.  In three months since the outbreak of coronavirus, which later took pandemic proportion, and which is ravaging the whole world at the moment, disinformation, misinformation and wrong information about the source of the virus, its infection rate and remedies have become the subject of deep worry for the countries which are struggling to combat the disease as well as the countries which are struggling to prevent its outbreak.  Nepal has not been the exception to this trend.

Facebook is the biggest social media site, with more than two billion people using it every month. Around 65 million businesses are using Facebook Pages and more than six million advertisers are actively promoting business through Facebook.

Algorithms will soon be a big part of human society. It is already being used to determine what people see on online platforms, detect traffic violations on the busy streets of cosmopolitan cities, suggest posts on social media, and fire unproductive employees. The general thinking is that the evaluations made by algorithms are objective and unbiased because they analyze huge amounts of data to make decisions.  This, however, is an incorrect assumption. Since people write software codes, human-biases often transfer in algorithms potentially threatening liberal democracy.

KATHMANDU, Feb 28: In a viral video on social media, a young woman carrying her child is seen severely beaten by a policeman with stick.

MOSCOW, Feb 13: A Russian court on Thursday fined social media company Twitter (TWTR.N) 4 million roubles ($62,845) for its failure to comply with a Russian data law, the RIA news agency reported.

Oli ba tells us that his government is working hard to create a civilized society and he wants all of us to be responsible citizens and not wild savages who rant on social media against corruption and misuse of power by our thulo mancheys. But the question is who really are the savages, us, the people who seem to find it difficult to even buy onions and garlic or those buffoons in power who spend billions of our taxpayers’ money on their own near and dear ones?

KATHMANDU, Feb 1: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced that it will take action against those making or receiving international payments for advertisements on the internet and in social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as online portals.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Nepal Compact which can be downloaded from https://mcanp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Millennium_Challenge_Compact.pdf is being discussed at large these days and I personally appreciate all the concerns that have surfaced, both in social media and mainstream media. We live in a democracy wherein people and people’s representatives should discuss and debate matters of national interest, but I believe our debates should be based on facts and evidence. With this article, I hope to provide some facts and clarify specific concerns to help the public understand the Compact better.

KATHMANDU, Jan 16: Nepali parliament must amend the Information Technology Bill (IT Bill) to bring into line with international standards and ensure that the law is not used to criminalize the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression, Amnesty International stated in a press release on Thursday.

Social media has taken over the world like deadly virus. Social media was built to create opportunities for people to bridge communication gap and connect with people all over the world. But now it has become the reason for the communication gap. New research has shown it could be having the opposite effect and leaving people more and more isolated.

KATHMANDU, Jan 8: Sajha Party on Wednesday urged the government to withdraw the controversial Information Technology Bill.

KATHMANDU, Jan 6: A bill, which is on the verge of endorsement by the lower house of parliament, may pave the way for the government to shut down social media sites at any time and under any pretext, according to experts.

UNITED STATES, Jan 1: Revelers around the globe are bidding farewell to a decade that will be remembered for the rise of social media, the Arab Spring, the #MeToo movement and, of course, President Donald Trump. A look at how the world is ushering in 2020:

British singer Ed Sheeran has announced that he is taking a break from music and social media.

Being the subject of discussion on a Facebook post of someone I didn’t even know too well was amusing at first but it quickly became a source of much anguish and hurt when people took to name calling and caste discrimination.

It's the festival of lights and scores of Bollywood celebrities thronged the social media on Sunday while extending out Diwali wishes to their fans and followers across the world. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan wished everyone with monochrome throwback pictures with Jaya Bachchan and daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda lighting 'Phuljhadi'.

NEW DELHI, Oct 22: India’s government asked Facebook Inc on Tuesday to help it decrypt private messages on its network, citing national security requirements in a court hearing on privacy rights on social media platforms.

BIRENDRANAGAR, Oct 19: On March 25, 2019, chief minister of Karnali Province, Mahendra Bahadur Shahi said browsing social media during office hours will be banned in government offices of Karnali.

KATHMANDU, Oct 13: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal, 23 years after the last visit by a Chinese President, has kept social media users busy for weeks. Opinions of the general public, as well as experts started flooding as the government started preparing for President Xi’s visit.

On the lead up to the Constitution Day and the day itself last week, as cynics on social media were jeering at the government’s appeal to people to mark the day by wearing national flag emblazoned t-shirts, my contemplation  was on what the press and intelligentsia would say about the constitution that turned four on September 20, 2019.  There were two stark responses: outright ambiguous and dismissive.

KATHMANDU, Sept 16: Nepal chapter of Accountability Lab has shortlisted five government officials as part of its annual event to honor honest government employees.

Actor Johnny Depp defended his recent advertisement with luxury fashion and beauty brand Dior which was taken off air after it was subjected to backlash on social media.

KATHMANDU, Sept 9: Social media has become a new avenue for people to express their feelings without being judged or ostracized by others. Particularly, the 'confession' pages of some social media platforms are widely being used by the young people in Nepal. People express their feelings to a large group of unknown members. And many provide feedback and advice on such anonymous posts.

If you haven’t heard it, here’s some bad news: The black and white worldview is back. Like all inestimable things, the extent of its spread cannot be quantified with precision. But a bird’s-eye view of opinions voiced in current-day Nepal certainly indicates that it is widespread, and already difficult, if not impossible, to contain.

ABUJA – In June, Senegalese President Macky Sall’s brother, Aliou Sall, resigned from his post as the head of a state-run savings fund, following public outrage over allegations (which he denies) that he was involved in corrupt oil and gas deals. That outrage was expressed via social media and on the streets of Dakar. But it was investigative journalism, carried out by the BBC, that triggered it, highlighting traditional media’s enduring power to effect change.

My day, like yours I’m going to assume here, starts in bed scrolling through Instagram or Facebook. For half an hour (on a good day, that is) before I get out of bed to go to the kitchen to make a strong cup of coffee, I consume endless posts on food, travel, love, and rituals that sometimes make me happy but more often than not fill me with wistful longing. And that’s really not a good mindset to start my day with. On bad days (days when I’m feeling particularly lazy or unmotivated), social media takes up an hour of my time in the morning, sometimes even more.

Anyone critically following views and opinions peddled by media in Nepal, including social media and major news media, must have sensed this. The information landscape is flooded with half-information and misinformation. Emotion prevails. Reason has taken the backstage. It is easy during such times to lose foresight and context. The costs of decisions made during periods of half-information can be very high and irrevocable.

KATHMANDU, Aug 31: Press Council Nepal has drafted a Journalists Code of Conduct that allows surveillance by the media watchdog body over the personal social media accounts of journalists.

BIARRITZ, Aug 25: France said it was optimistic that U.S.-based social media platforms including Facebook and Snapchat would still sign a pledge to fight online hate speech despite a last-minute delay.

KATHMANDU, Aug 22: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, in an attempt to engage with the people far and wide, has directed its subordinate bodies to make the utmost use of social media.

Where Do People Spend More Time on Social Media

KATHMANDU, Aug 12: The government has asked the people to promote the logo of Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 2020 through their social media profiles.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 26: Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) posted a better-than-expected second-quarter revenue on Friday and an uptick in daily users who see advertisements on the site, driven by changes to show users more relevant content.

Instagram has been growing rapidly since its launch in 2010. With one billion monthly active users, it has left behind competitors like Twitter and Snapchat by regularly coming up with new features and evolving fast. The Facebook-owned company is the go-to social media site for many, especially youngsters, because of its simplicity and visual appeal. But with so much content, how are people choosing what and who to follow?

Neymar posted a video featuring himself in a Barcelona shirt on social media on Saturday, raising more speculation that the Paris St Germain forward might return to his former club, but his public relations company said he would show up in Paris on Monday.