Kathmandu. With the government’s decision to shut down social networks in Nepal despite repeated calls for listing in accordance with the law, Nepali consumers have started looking for other options.
Viber apps, which are especially useful for messaging and communication, have been downloaded and used.
Once popular among Nepali users, Viber has been in limited use lately. Especially due to the easy interface and features of Meta Company’s WhatsApp, consumers started using WhatsApp instead of Viber.
Although viber apps were down loaded on the mobile phones of Nepali consumers, the usage was very low. Some business organizations are using the Viber Business Message facility to spread targeted messages to their customers.
Despite repeated calls from the Government of Nepal through public notices, companies like Facebook, WhatsApp operator Company Meta, another social network Hamro Patro, Google, YouTube, etc. have been adamant to register in Nepal.
The government has decided to ban the social networks operated by these companies until they are listed as the last weapon to bring them under the purview of regulation rather than banning them.
For this, the Supreme Court had also issued a mandamus in the name of the government and directed to bring all types of digital media and social media under the purview of regulation. The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a mandamus on a writ petition seeking a ban on the content being broadcast through internet browsers, including social media and various media OTT apps, which are not licensed as per the law.
Earlier, the court had issued a directive to the government to regulate all types of social media in the defamation dispute filed by Sidhakura.com.
For the first time, the government had issued a 30-day public notice on April 15, 2081, calling for mandatory listing of all types of social networks. Even after this deadline, companies other than those already registered did not come to be listed and did not pay attention to the government.
So far, only Viber, TikTok and Vitok are listed in Nepal.
Meta, Microsoft, Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) and LinkedIn have been registered at large taxpayer offices only for the purpose of paying Nepal Income Tax.
Section 3 of the Guidelines for Managing the Use of Social Media, 2080, states that any company operating social media should be enlisted in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to operate services within Nepal.
