Baburam Aryal, Advocate, 
Digital Freedom Coalition 
The Nepal government’s decision to ban TikTok is irresponsible and unlawful. Nepal’s Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and the right to information, both for print and online. So this ban is against the spirit of the Constitution. 
 
Kamal Dev Bhattarai, Editor, 
Annapurna Express 
TikTok has good things going on too and one of them is how small entrepreneurs have found success using this platform. This ban has had a damaging impact on these businesses. 
TikTok has also provided space to up-and-coming youth who have been ignored by the mainstream media. The platform has allowed them to unlock their talents and they have gained popularity nationally and internationally. 
 
Smriti Shrestha, Founder, 
Akarsan Skin and Hair Clinic 
Any business requires marketing tools and ours is social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok and Youtube. But unlike other platforms that require you to spend dollars to boost or advertise your business, TikTok doesn’t cost you money. I make content that could go viral and lead to an increase in business without me being required to spend any money. 
TikTok has a viral reach like no other. Earlier this year, Gosainkunda was busy like Asan bazaar because clips of the place were going viral on TikTok and trekkers were visiting in droves as a result. So this ban will also hamper the tourism sector.
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/tiktok-ban-won-t-stop-nepali-netizens">TikTok ban won’t stop Nepali netizens</a>, Saniaa Shah 
 
Tanka Aryal, Chair, 
Digital Rights Nepal 
The government seems to have taken it as just banning a private company. &nbsp;But it is against the right to information and freedom of speech enshrined by our Constitution. At the same time, people were using &nbsp;TikTok to promote their businesses, the platform has been crucial for the tourism industry and for entrepreneurship. 
As such, this is an ad hoc bad with a very weak excuse that TikTok was creating social disharmony. Is TikTok the only one doing so? Even then, as per our &nbsp;Constitution, we cannot shut down any media platform but we can regulate the content given that hate speech, mis- and disinformation are quite prevalent these days. The state can also work on digital literacy instead of taking this easy route which is a regressive step. 
The ban therefore is against the prevalent law and Constitution of the land. &nbsp;This is also impractical in today's world where technology is an integral part of everyday life. 
 
Santosh Sigdel, Advocate, 
Digital Rights Nepal 
The &nbsp;TikTok ban has a direct impact on digital rights. The most important thing when it comes to digital rights is access to the internet, and for most of the Nepalis that was TikTok. And the ban has curtailed their rights. 
TikTok is very user-friendly and doesn’t need a whole lot of technical know-how which was why its users were increasing exponentially, in turn leading to a huge reach. 
The ban has also directly impacted freedom of speech and the right to information online. 
Then there is the right to employment. A lot of small entrepreneurs were using TikTok for their business. Much of their digital content is lost and so is their means of livelihood. In a nutshell, the TikTok ban curtails a whole lot of basic rights. 
 
Chiranjivi Adhikari, General Secretary, 
CAAN Federation 
The decision to ban TikTok because of security reasons is not scientific. &nbsp;Expecting privacy from social media sites we consume for free doesn't really make sense, our content on these platforms is at the very least on their servers. 
More worryingly, with free DNS and VPN we are seeing a massive increase in TikTok users. Free DNS and VPN are not secure and run malicious codes. If these get installed on our phones and laptops, and especially if we use the same devices for offices, they could destroy the whole network in our workplaces. These devices can also access our banking details and can easily do away with monetary losses for us.
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rattled-by-criticism-nepal-bans-tiktok">Rattled by criticism, Nepal bans TikTok</a> 
 
Dinesh Tripthi, 
Senior advocate 
If we are to ban TikTok we will have to ban the whole of social media. We know that FaceBook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter have all been misused and more so. As such, the government will have to ban the internet. People also get vulgar, harassing messages on their mobile phones. This means the ban is not the solution. In a democratic society, a remedy shouldn’t be worse than a disease. Any step that the government takes should be based on the Constitution, and not constrict the democratic space like they have done by banning the platform in Nepal.

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Talking about Tiktok

Unnerved by the rise of rightwing religious groups, Nepal’s coalition cabinet decided Monday to clamp an immediate ban on TikTok, saying the social media platform is spreading social discord. The popularity of the Chinese social media platform rose dramatically in Nepal since the Covid lockdown, rivalling the reach of Facebook, and political pressure groups had started using it to multiply their reach. “The cabinet decided to ban TikTok because of its impact on social harmony,” Minister of Communication and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said. “We are overseeing the prompt implementation of the closure.” Sharma, who is also the government spokesperson, said, however, it could take some time to shut down the platform in a smooth manner. The announcement was obviously timed for the Tihar holiday period, when the government might have expected criticism of the move to be muted. However, most of the immediate reaction on social media (and also on TikTok itself) was of outrage and ridicule with most commentators seeing it as a sign of a shaky coalition that has been spooked by the rise of the religious right and pro-monarchy forces. The last<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-interface-with-information"> media survey</a> conducted by Sharecast Initiative in 2022 showed that 56% of a sample group of Nepalis who were on the Internet said they used TikTok. The platform was launched by the Chinese technology company ByteDance in 2016, and saw a spurt in users in Nepal after the pandemic lockdowns. “TikTok’s aggressive algorithm makes it highly addictive, and that is the reason for its rapid spread in Nepal,” explains Sharecast Initiative’s Madhu Acharya. “But there has been concern about cultural invasion through its content, and the government appears to be worried about it being used by those opposed to the secular and republican &nbsp;constitution.” Acharya is preparing a new media survey this year, and extrapolates TikTok’s user base to have now grown to 85-95% to rival Facebook and YouTube.&nbsp; Many critics of the move have seen the TikTok ban as the first step in what they see as a government design to muzzle freedom of expression and an independent media in Nepal, which is currently the most open society in South Asia. "TikTok represents freedom of expression. Banning it is to curtain freedom of speech. How will the government be accountable if there is no criticism?,” says Constitutional law expert Bipin Adhikari. “As long as there is no incitement to violence or criminality, or encourage religious strife, the government has no right to ban free expression.” Opposition parties have been scathing in their criticism of the government move, saying it exposes the fragility of the 8-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Centre with the Nepali Congress and other smaller parties.&nbsp; Even some dissident members of the Nepali Congress have taken to social media to voice their opposition to the TikTok ban announcement. ‘If you have a boil on your neck, you don’t chop off your neck,’ wrote Bishwa Prakash Sharma of the Nepali Congress who is with a faction opposed to party president Sher Bahadur Deuba. ‘Identify those who are misusing the platform. But shutting down TikTok is undemocratic.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231113131112_b7c68b593d4d601406a2fb754d6010db8d03fa17fee17b9129cd6c576fc9f370.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231113131112_b7c68b593d4d601406a2fb754d6010db8d03fa17fee17b9129cd6c576fc9f370" data-rendition-name="original" width="1192" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="tiktok"> </figure>  Another NC General Secretary Gagan Thapa said the TikTok ban reeked of authoritarianism: "This is a sign that the government wants to clamp down on freedom of expression. The government has taken a wrong step." <div class="embed-block"><div style="max-width: 550px;"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?app=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fthapagk%2Fstatus%2F1723976965810688154&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></div> A spokesperson of the independent RSP which is also in the opposition said that if there was a problem with TikTok it could be regulated, and an outright ban was overkill. One immediate concern that the government had appears to be over businessman Durga Prasai who has mounted a vocal campaign on TikTok against mainstream parties for the reinstatement of a Hindu monarchy in Nepal. He had made a call for 100,000 people to rally in Kathmandu on 21 November. Prasai, who is heavily in debt after having borrowed to start a hospital in eastern Nepal, has also been leading a public campaign to refuse to pay back bank loans. Many see his anti-establishment political stance as a way to magnify his movement. Nepal is not the first country to ban the app. India imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok in 2020. Along with a looming ban in the US, other countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and Norway among others have also banned the app on government devices.&nbsp; While for many of these countries, the issue seems to be the Chinese ownership and user data security, the Nepal government has cited social harmony as the main reason for the move.&nbsp; The ban closely follows the recently introduced ‘Directive on the Operation of Social Networking 2023’ which says that social media platforms operating in Nepal now have to establish offices in the country. It also has a list of 19 things users are not allowed to do on social media including creating and engaging through fake IDs, posting media or text that spreads animosity against any community, caste, gender, religion, indulging in hate speech and defaming others. To be sure, internationally as well as in Nepal, Tiktok has become a breeding ground for hate speech. There have been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1780027">studies</a> on how TikTok is being used to spread racist, sexist and homophobic content.&nbsp; There are instances in Nepali Tiktoksphere where clips of individual users who have made <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@chhabilalsubedi.official/video/7298021488991522050">questionable comments around certain communities</a> have gone viral starting a thread of spat between the communities. Some have also indulged in morally questionable behaviour including a recent case of a female CPN Maoist Centre cadre exposing herself during a TikTok live. It has also emerged as a platform for online gambling, and the app’s rising popularity also means that it has become a medium for spreading fake news, misinformation and disinformation. But it is difficult to say the same does not happen or has not previously happened on other social media apps. &nbsp; Instead of regulating what technology a person uses or how they choose to use it, critics say a more nuanced approach like addressing specific issues and promoting digital literacy is required. A more creative way would be to utilise TikTok itself to tackle the extremist ideologies in collaboration with the social media platform and foster dialogue both on and offline.&nbsp; Even when developing and enforcing legal frameworks, it is important to ensure that these are in line with international human rights standards and do not infringe upon or restrict freedom of expression.&nbsp; Says advocate Baburam Aryal of the Internet Governance Institute, "Today it is TikTok, tomorrow it could be Kantipur, the next day it could be Onlinekhabar, there is a danger that all media will be muzzled. This is how authoritarianism begins."

Rattled by criticism, Nepal bans TikTok

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