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Press Union demands government withdraw 'Social Media Bill, 2081'

B360 February 20, 2025, 11:58 am

Press Union demands government withdraw 'Social Media Bill, 2081'

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KATHMANDU: Nepal Press Union (NPU) has demanded the government withdraw the 'Social Media Bill, 2081'.

The national conference of the NPU province and chapter presidents, held on February 17-19 and hosted by the Union Central Committee, put forward the demand by issuing a 12-point declaration.

The declaration issued after the conclusion of the conference mentioned that the NPU has serious reservations regarding certain provisions specified in the bill.

The Press Union has called for the government to consult with stakeholders on the provisions concerning the freedom of the press and opinion. To ensure this freedom, the media trade union demanded the withdrawal of the bill.

The 12-point declaration was released after intensive discussions on the organisational activities of the NPU, issues of working journalists and journalism, professional security of journalists, freedom of the press and expression, technology-enabled challenges to the media sector, and media laws.

General Secretary Dilip Poudel presented the organisational report, and Senior Vice President and disciplinary department coordinator Prem KC presented the report of the disciplinary committee.

The union also announced that it would fully implement the action plan to be prepared by the central committee based on the recommendations of the conference.

Drawing the attention of the government and media houses to issues related to the Working Journalists Act, implementation of minimum wages, regular payment of wages, and professional, physical, economic and social security of journalists, it also announced that all the structures of the union would carry out a pressure campaign as needed.

The Union also highlighted the laws and guidelines framed by various levels of government that aim to curb the right to freedom of the press and expression.

The NPU strongly demanded that all three tiers of government formulate policies, rules, acts, laws, and regulations related to communication to ensure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

"Print, television, and radio are on the verge of shutdown as the problems seen in the country's economy have affected the advertising market", reads the declaration.

The conference of province and chapter presidents called for an increase in the ad amount by including online media in public welfare advertisements by streamlining the proportional advertisement distribution system, considering the widespread trend of opening online media.

All chapter and province committees pledged to implement programmes including capacity development, vocational training in journalism, programmes to support journalists in trouble, insurance, social security, incentives, and writing fellowships to make the 'Press Union with Journalists' campaign announced by the central committee effective.

"The statute amendment process will be initiated to make the Press Union Statute 2048 (Sixth Amendment-2079) timely and practical. The Union is going to organise the 'Lomanthang International Media Summit' in the month of Chaitra (March-April) to enable an environment to follow international media practices in Nepal."

The NPU has urged the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) to immediately initiate a process of retaining the membership of journalists who have been excluded from its membership.