CIVICUS discusses Nepal’s Social Network Bill with Dikshya Khadgi, a Nepali feminist digital rights lawyer and activist and a member of AALAWYA, a feminist advocacy and movement lawyering collective rooted in the values of justice, equality, radical care and cross-movement building.
The proposed law would require social media platforms to obtain licences and comply with strict regulations, and would grant authorities the power to ban content and impose severe penalties for posts deemed harmful or misleading. This could lead to censorship and have a chilling effect on free speech. Additionally, the law would mandate users to disclose their identities and share data with authorities, raising serious privacy concerns. The bill’s vague language could enable government overreach and selective enforcement, allowing authorities to target dissenting voices while undermining constitutional rights and stifling public discourse under the guise of regulation.