We will shut Meta if it fails to register within a week: Minister Gurung

Kathmandu: Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has said Meta’s access to Nepal will be disrupted if the company is not officially registered here.

During his participation in a department-level interaction on the right to information organised by the National Information Commission here today, the Minister said that Meta, the mother company of various social platforms such as Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, did not respond to the government’s letter for officially getting registered in Nepal.

‘Of it fails to ensure the registration within a week, it will be shut,’ he warned. According to the Minister, it is not ethical to have an unwillingness to follow the laws of the respective country when the company is doing its business. As he said, efforts are underway from the Ministry’s secretary level to make Meta fix its centre in Nepal.

It may be noted that some social platforms, TikTok and Viber, have been officially registered in Nepal. The Minister has urged other such sites for registration, adding that it will help systematise the social sites, making them accountable and responsible towards society.

On the occasion, he informed that the Bill relating to the operation of social sites is in the course of getting an endorsement from the parliament. He argued that any efforts capable of jeopardising social goodwill, promoting offences, encroaching on personal life and attacking national integrity and independence in the name of freedom are to be regulated. The Bill aims to ensure the systematic operations of social sites.

Terming the Right to Information as an instrument to promote the citizens’ fundamental rights, including good governance, he said the Commission should further deliver effectively for its protection. He also insisted on the need to prevent the misuse of information provided upon demand.

NIC Chief Dr Suresh Prasad Acharya said the RTI, transparency and good governance are the pillars of democracy, and the providers and seekers are equal partners in it. He urged employees and department chiefs to be free from the ‘mindset’ that the disclosure of information of public interest will cause a backfire.

Information Commissioner Gagan Bista they public entities are not supposed to seek an excuse to impart information of public interest.

Another Information Officer, Durga Bhandari, urged information officers not to have a rigid mentality in terms of disclosing information of public interest and to make this happen in a convenient atmosphere.

RSS