Government Drafts Rules to Check Social Media Misuse, Telecom Overhaul
Communications Minister Dr. Bikram Timilsina outlined upcoming legislation to combat social media abuse and unveiled sweeping 4G and power backup upgrades for Nepal Telecom.
The government is drafting a dedicated legal framework to address online fraud, harassment, and disinformation, Minister for Information and Communications Dr. Bikram Timilsina told the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Responding to queries raised by lawmakers, Dr. Timilsina stated that provisions to curb the deliberate spread of misleading and unsubstantiated information will be incorporated into the upcoming Mass Communications Bill and the Press Council Bill, Ratopati reported. The minister insisted that the planned legislation is intended to make journalism more disciplined and accountable rather than curtail press freedom, noting that legal safeguards would be finalised after extensive consultations with stakeholders.
According to Onlinekhabar, the minister announced that the government has also initiated a formal study to conduct fact-checking of material circulated on social media platforms. The Ministry of Information and Communications is coordinating with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau to establish mechanisms for deterring defamation and digital abuse, Onlinekhabar reported.
Reporting on the parliamentary session, state-run Gorkhapatra noted that Dr. Timilsina pledged institutional reforms for public media, highlighting that state-owned outlets had suffered years of neglected financial audits. He defended the newly introduced Advertising Policy 2083, arguing that systemic reforms to public welfare advertisements are designed to curb ministerial arbitrariness and make media houses commercially viable.
Ratopati also reported that the minister instructed Public Service Broadcasting Nepal to halt paid religious programming on Nepal Television following concerns over conversion-related cartoon broadcasts. Additionally, the ministry is consulting the Department of Postal Services regarding a commemorative postage stamp honoring mountaineer Nirmal Purja.
Beyond media regulation, Dr. Timilsina outlined major telecom infrastructure upgrades, designating the current fiscal year as a "transformation year" for mobile connectivity, according to Nagarik News. State-owned Nepal Telecom is evaluating bids to construct 200 new cellular towers and plans to publish tenders this week for 4G equipment across 1,597 locations nationwide.
To address power outages affecting network reliability, Nepal Telecom replaced battery backups at more than 600 sites across all seven provinces over the past three months, Nagarik News reported. The new batteries provide four to six hours of backup in urban centres and up to ten hours in rural areas. Dr. Timilsina also reported that recent Bhotekoshi flooding caused over Rs 88.5 million in damage to telecom infrastructure in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading, adding that critical backbone links have been restored through temporary towers and microwave transmissions.