The Press Union calls for the Social Media Bill to be withdrawn

The government has been urged to revoke the Social Media Bill, 2081 BS by the Nepal Press Union (NPU).

The demand was presented during the national conference of NPU province and chapter presidents, which was convened by the Union Central Committee and took place from February 17–19. The meeting issued a 12-point resolution.

The statement released following the conference’s conclusion stated that NPU had grave concerns over a few of the bill’s provisions.

The Press Union has demanded that the government confer with interested parties over the clauses pertaining to press and opinion freedom. The media trade union called for the law to be withdrawn in order to protect freedom.

Following extensive debates on NPU’s organizational activities, working journalist and journalism issues, journalist professional security, freedom of press and expression, technology-enabled challenges to the media sector, and media regulations, the 12-point proclamation was made public.

The organizational report was given by General Secretary Dilip Poudel, while the disciplinary committee report was given by Prem KC, senior vice president and coordinator of the disciplinary department.

On the basis of the conference’s recommendations, the union has also declared its intention to completely execute the action plan that will be created by the central committee.

In addition to bringing the Working Journalists Act, minimum wage implementation, regular wage payments, and the professional, physical, economic, and social security of journalists to the attention of the government and media outlets, it has also declared that all union structures will conduct a pressure campaign as needed.

The union has also called attention to the rules and regulations that have been drafted by different governmental levels that restrict the freedom of expression and the press.

To safeguard the preservation of rights as guaranteed by the Constitution, the NPU has firmly requested that all three-tier governments create policies, rules, acts, laws, and regulations pertaining to communication.

“The nation’s economic issues have impacted the advertising sector, putting print, television, and radio on the verge of closing,” the statement states.

It is observed that the trend of opening online media has become widespread, thus the conference of provincial and chapter presidents advocates for expanding the amount of advertising by adding online media to public welfare advertisements by simplifying the proportionate advertisement distribution system.

In order to make the ‘Press Union with Journalists’ campaign announced by the central committee effective, all chapters and province committees have committed to implementing programs such as writing fellowships, insurance, social security, incentives, journalism vocational training, programs to support journalists in trouble, and capacity building.

“To make the Press Union Statute 2048 (Sixth Amendment-2079) current and useful, the process of amending the statute will be started. During the month of Chaitra (March–April), the Union will host the ‘Lo Manthang Foreign Media Summit’ to allow Nepal to adopt foreign media practices.

The NPU has called on the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) to start the process of allowing journalists who have been kicked out of the organization to rejoin right away.