Nepali Bureaucracy Unprepared as Deadline Nears for Social Media Shutdown
भदौ १७, २०८२ १६:३३
Kathmandu: Although the government has decided to gradually shut down unlisted and uncontacted social media, it has been found that there is no preparation for implementation. Employees say the decision will ultimately depend on the strategy of the political leadership, from ministers to the prime minister.
Officials have assessed that shutting down social media could have serious social, economic, geopolitical, and personal freedom impacts. Still, the bureaucracy remains in a wait-and-see mode, prepared to act only after receiving a written directive from political leadership.
On the proposal of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Cabinet meeting on 25 August gave a seven-day deadline, calling on social media companies to be listed with the Ministry. On 28 August, the Ministry issued a notification giving unlisted social networks seven days to comply. The deadline ends tomorrow (Wednesday). The government had also directed the Ministry of Telecommunications to gradually deactivate social media in Nepal that fails to register or respond within the deadline.
As the deadline nears, senior officials remain unsure how to enforce the government’s order and have made no preparations.
Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, Gajendra Kumar Thakur, said the time for listing continues until Wednesday and the Ministry is optimistic that platforms will comply within that period. When asked by TechPana if unlisted social media would be shut down, he said that decision rests with the government, not the ministry.
"That is not a situation we can comment on. We are hopeful that the platforms yet to list will contact us by Wednesday. Let’s wait until then,” Thakur said. “We have not started any preparations to deactivate social media yet. There is no preparation to do anything. We will wait until the deadline.”
However, another ministry employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said shutting down social networks is not feasible. Citing the sudden ban on TikTok, which harmed telecom businesses and affected citizens’ livelihoods, the official warned that closing platforms with more users would cause even greater damage.
“The government was under pressure. On one hand, the Supreme Court ordered us to move forward with listing/registration of social networks. Our response has been that we will continue trying to list them, but we should not close them. The impact would be too large,” the employee said.
Earlier, the TikTok ban had forced the country to bear a loss of more than Rs. 1.78 billion after the cache server was displaced and international bandwidth imports increased. Telecom and internet companies reportedly lost around Rs. 5 billion after the ban.
This time, the government is targeting even larger platforms like Google and Meta, which have more users than TikTok. If shut down, the damage would be significant. Platforms such as Facebook, X, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, WeChat, and Imo are widely used in Nepal.
Samit Jan, chairman of the Nepal Network Operators Group (NPOG), said Nepal’s current international bandwidth import has reached 2.5 terabits, while local bandwidth capacity across providers is about 10 terabits. Around 90 percent of that is consumed by social media users. Shutting down social media, he warned, would cause bandwidth usage to spike and become uncontrollable.
“There is a risk that VPN and Open DNS use will surge after social media shutdowns, which would increase international bandwidth consumption and raise costs for service providers,” Jan told TechPana.
According to the Ministry of Communications, only TikTok, Viber, Nimbuzz, BitTalk, and Poppo Live have registered so far. Spokesperson Thakur said the rest have not been contacted.
“So far, no other social networks have contacted us for listing. Let’s wait until Wednesday. After that, we will move forward as per the government’s instructions,” he said.
Similarly, the regulatory Telecommunications Authority has also cautioned against aggressively shutting down social networks, warning it would severely affect telecom operators and internet service providers.
Yet, there has been no consultation with the Authority or the government’s chief telecommunications advisor on the matter before the Cabinet took its decision.
The Ministry of Communications and the Authority’s staff now appear to be waiting for a written directive before disabling social networks.
“The impact of banning TikTok was already huge. Now, with the big platforms still unlisted, their deactivation could have unexpected consequences,” said an employee of the Authority.
पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: भदौ १७, २०८२ १६:४२
