Nepali public welcomes government decision to impose ban on TikTok

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Citizens reacted positively to the ban on the Chinese video platform TikTok in Nepal which became the latest nation to ban this app after mounting criticism and complaints.

Residents of Chitwan in Central Nepal welcomed the decision to ban TikTok. They opined that the ban would have a positive effect on society as a whole.

“While opinions may vary depending on individual perspectives and priorities, I believe it would have a positive impact in our country if the government took the step of banning the TikTok. The main issue that needed to be addressed was incorporating legal regulations on TikTok, which was not present in our country. So it created disparity among the people of various communities and religions, which really went against the diversified country Nepal,” Devesh Adhikari, a medical professional, told ANI.

A cabinet meeting in Nepal on Monday decided to ban Chinese social media platform TikTok after mounting complaints of social disharmony in the Himalayan nation. Government of Nepal spokesperson and Minister of Information and Communications Rekha Sharma confirmed that a cabinet meeting on Monday decided to ban social media. A complete technical ban would come into effect later, Minister Sharma confirmed to ANI over the phone.

“Tik Tok has been banned in Nepal on a policy level since today. The technical aspect of banning would take some time. The Ministry of Information and Communications would facilitate bringing the ban into effect,” Minister Sharma briefed.

The decision of the government of Nepal comes after contents shared over Tik Tok disrupt social harmony, break off the family and disrupt societal relations.

“Tik Tok was consuming more time of people, became a means to kill their productive time, boosted a sense of competition to show off lavishness amongst people, forced people to expend more on the luxurious items rather than the basic necessities, gave space for distortion of images and videos and also acted as the platform to threaten or spread hate speech, which is rising on significantly,” Meena Kumari Pokharel told ANI.

In the past 4 years and 3 months, Nepal has recorded a total of 1648 cases of cybercrime in thecyber bureau of the Nepal Police, out of which the majority were regarding the contentsof Tik Tok.

Chinese social media Tik Tok does not have any provisions to remove offensive contents. With the latest move, Nepal becomes the most recent country to ban Tik Tok, which is already banned in over 50 countries.

Users in Nepal prior to the ban also felt the essence of ban on the use of this platform, which they too believed that it contained socially derogating contents.

“One or two months ago, I signed up on Tik Tok. I entered into that community as a new member; as soon as I entered there I found socially explicit- socially restricted contents, it was then when I realized it’s not good for Nepali society or Nepali context where we value people’s character very much. So in this matter I realized, it is not regulated in Nepal by any authorities and anyone can sign up and upload content of their interest. I have seenpeople of various age group uploading contents which can be deemed vulgar,” Ritu Ghimire, a new user of Tik Tok who entered the virtual world of Chinese app told ANI.

The latest decision of Government of Nepal has come within days with the introduction of “Directives on the Operation of Social Networking 2023,” as per which social mediaPlatforms operating in Nepal are required to set up their offices in the country.

On Thursday, November 9, 2023, the country made it mandatory for social media sites such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and YouTube, among others, to open their liaison offices in Nepal. Though none of the companies have approached Nepal with regard to it, the government has banned TikTok in particular because of the contents shared online.

“It may have both negative and positive consequences because, looking at the present scenario, TikTok has more cons than pros. In fact, it is tracking our personal data and leading to chaos in the digital era of today. It can trigger a mass trend, which has proven fatal in our patriarchal society. In my opinion, it is a genuine step by the Government of Nepal to ban or suspend Tik Tok unless our society is ready for an influencer like TikTok,” Sumesh Adhikari, a tech student, told ANI.

Nepal’s new directives require social media companies to establish either an office orappoint a focal person in Nepal within three months of the enforcement of the directives.

They also have been mandated to register their social media platforms with the Ministryof Information and Communication Technology, or face a shutdown.

The directives include a 19-point not-to-do list for users of platforms like Facebook, X,TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

Meanwhile, in India, the government had in June 2020 banned TikTok along with several other Chinese apps, over national security concerns. Prior to the ban, the app had about 150 million monthly active users in India.

Moreover, concerning the security issues with the TikTok app, Australia, Belgium,Canada, Afghanistan, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway have imposedpartial or complete bans, respectively, on the video sharing app. (ANI)