Kathmandu, Aug 19: The National Assembly (NA) unanimously endorsed the proposal, seeking consideration on ‘Social Network Bill, 2081’.
Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, had tabled the Bill. In response to the queries raised by lawmakers during the deliberation, Minister Gurung said there were no vague words and sentences in the Bill, and in case it had, it could be corrected.
Cybercrime was surging across the globe, so time has come to curb it, he said, adding that Media Council Bill was also introduced by the government in order to regulate online media. Such bills could help maintain religious tolerance, according to him.
The Minister, however, said the Bill was dealing with new issues, so adequate discussion is necessary to reach a conclusion.
On the occasion, the NA members stressed regulation rather than control of social networks.Anjan Shakya spoke on the international practices of social networks and hoped the Bill would help curb social networks ills. She also argued for regulation not control of social network.
Ghanashyam Rijal, however, argued some provisions in the Bill were control-oriented, which were capable to tamper citizen’s freedom of expression and opinion. According to Suresh Alemagar, although regulation is a need of hour, control is unwarranted.
Kiran Babu Shrestha was of the view that freedom expression must not be breached by the Bill. Similar view came from Beduram Bhusal.
Taraman Swar stressed the need of correcting the provisions that violate other laws.Some provisions that breach free speech need correction, according to Gopal Bhattarai.
Narayan Dutt Mishra argued if social media accounts are run by those with authentic identity, it could help minimize fake accounts.
In view of Ganga Kumari Belbase, education and literacy count more than control. Thorough debate is imperative because there is no provision of mediation in the Bill, according to Madan Kumari Sah (Garima).
Tulash Kumari Dahal said as the Bill was introduced in the parliament, it could be forwarded with correction. Other members advocating for the Bill respecting human rights were Yubraj Sharma, Krishna Prasad Adhikari, Sumitra BC, and Bishnu Bahadur Bishwokarma.
Chairman of the National Assembly informed members that anyone willing amendment to the Bill could register proposals in the bill section. #na #nepal
