Media matters

2024 was marked by Nepal’s politicians attempting to silence journalists and institutions that were critical of them. 

Despite being elected, they seem to be learning the tricks about gagging the media from authoritarians in the neighbourhood. But the lesson there is that such suppression is counterproductive. 

First it was Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane who, as Home Minister in the previous coalition, jailed the publisher of Kantipur which had exposed his alleged involvement in defrauding cooperatives

Lamichhane lost his job when the coalition collapsed after the Nepali Congress switched to the UML side in June. He has now been charged, and lost his MP seat and party chairmanship as well. 

Lamichhane and other political leaders who catapulted to national politics after the 2022 local and federal elections copied the proven method of fanning populism through social media. Once in power, like elected authoritarians elsewhere, they have tried to emasculate the mainstream press.

Earlier this month, Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang openly threatened journalist Gopal Dahal and the Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal for their exposé of governance and fundraising irregularities. Sampang said he would ‘end the career’ of Dahal and former Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Sunsari chair Janak Rishi Rai who had shared the story on social media.

Sampang’s supporters have since been sending Dahal death threats, using slurs, and praising the mayor for ‘teaching the media a lesson’. 

The mayor’s actions have drawn widespread condemnation, with FNJ and Freedom Forum calling for the safety and protection of journalists. Dharan journalists staged rallies in outside the mayor’s office denouncing his threats. 

“There is no environment for freedom of expression in Dharan, where the mayor has long been intimidating the press," CIJ-N editor Kiran Nepal says. “All the while, the central government is silent in the complaints against Sampang.”

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement: ‘CPJ calls for a swift and thorough investigation into the death threats against journalist Gopal Dahal. Authorities must hold all perpetrators accountable while ensuring the journalists’ safety … the media must be allowed to report without fear of harassment or violence.’

Lamichhane, Sampang and Kathmandu mayor Balen Shah campaigned in 2022 on anti-incumbent platforms riding the save of public disenchantment against established parties. 

They have continued to rile up their base by magnifying the message on social media, scathingly trolling and threatening anyone daring to criticise them — including those in the mainstream press.

“What Sampang, Shah and Lamichhane have in common is that they think they are above media scrutiny, and prefer to mobilise their troll armies," says CIJ-N's Kiran Nepal. "Nepal's media has problems, too, but this new crop of politicians thinks there is no role at all for a free press."

The new leaders all have their sights on the 2027 elections, and have benefited from the silence from the political establishment against their methods. Mainstream political leaders seem wary of engaging with these younger leaders and their supporter base.

Nepal’s established parties which fought long and hard for democracy also appear to have developed a thin skin — especially to social media content that lampoons them. 

For mainstream leaders, intolerance of criticism is not just limited to the media, but also to dissenting voices from within their own parties, as evidenced by the expulsion of Bhim Rawal and suspension of leaders Binda Pandey and Usha Kiran Timilsina.

The coalition government is pushing ahead a new media bill aimed at regulating social media networks and online media. 

Communication Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung has said the bill is aimed at “countering the chaos created by social media”. The bill has been approved by the Cabinet, but it is unclear whether it will now go to Parliament, and Gurung is urging Prime Minister K P Oli to pass the bill through ordinance. 

The bill will require international social media networks like Facebook and TikTok to obtain registration, establish an office, and pay taxes in Nepal. Social media and online users can be fined or jailed if found to violate norms in the bill. 

Last year, the Maoist-NC coalition used similar rhetoric of ‘maintaining social harmony’ to ban TikTok. Mainstream parties were spooked by rising popularity of religious radicals and pro-Monarchy groups on the platform. 

Establishment leaders are nervous that independently elected mayors including Sampang and Shah, will use social media to join national politics like the RSP’s Rabi Lamichhane.

While populist leaders demonstrate intolerance towards criticism in the mainstream press, they and their supporters use their social media handles to threaten and troll even a hint of criticism of their actions on those platforms.

This puts media organisations and free speech activists in a dilemma: while hate speech, intimidation and trolling corrode democracy, censoring the internet is a slippery slope.

They say the bill undermines freedom of speech, and that while monitoring social media to maintain socio-cultural harmony is important, putting controls over social media is the wrong way to go about it. 

Tellingly, the political establishment has stayed silent throughout Sampang’s threats against Dahal and CIJ-N, Lamichhane ridiculing the ‘dirty dozen’ media owners and the Balen Shah overstepping his remit in Kathmandu.  Authorities in Dharan have also been willing to start legal proceedings against Ssampang even after complaints

Nepal is currently one of the most open societies in Asia in terms of freedom of expression. Any restrictions on media freedom through the bill, or government inaction against threats to journalists will set a bad precedent in the region. 

However, even as politicians try to mute the media and despite the online support for populist leaders who attack the press, Sharecast Initiative’s annual survey shows that Nepalis still have a lot of trust in mainstream press.

Even though the audience of legacy and linear media continues to decline every year, there is still a considerable critical mass that appreciates the role free media plays in making democracy function as it should.

Says Nepal: “Putting regulations over social media is a double-edged sword, it will curtail freedom of expression-- democracy cannot function under this kind of control mechanism.”