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Nepal Bans 26 Social Media Platforms, Including Signal
(sh.itjust.works)
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Nepal has issued an order requiring all social media platforms to be registered in Nepal.
Based on this, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has instructed all network service providers to deactivate 26 platforms, including Signal, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and others.
To lift the ban and operate legally in Nepal, each platform must:
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Register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
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Appoint in Nepal:
- A Point of Contact
- A Resident Grievance Handling Officer
- An Officer responsible for monitoring compliance with self-regulation [1]
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Submit an application in the prescribed format along with required documents, as per the Directives on Managing the Use of Social Media Networks (2080 B.S.). [2]
Reference:
[2] Directives for Managing the Use of Social Networks, 2023
Good move of Nepal to ban Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Whatsapp, VK, WeChat, Threads, as well as Facebook, LinkedIn, Facebook Messenger, Pinterest, and Discord.
That said, Mastodon and Signal also being included, is dumb. What Nepal could do better, is that upon visiting one of the banned sites, users are advised to download another, decentralised medium.
Have you even read the summary? It's about having a representative and handling user complaints, a decentralized platform 8s the opposite of that.
And what happens if the social media platform doesn’t address complaints in the way the government wants?
Would the social media company rather continue making a profit in that country, so censors according to the government, or leave the country entirely?
Precedents are quite one sided