Civil society warning on information integrity
A coalition of 20 organisations, including Digital Rights Nepal, Freedom Forum and other media advocacy groups, issued a statement this week urging the government and Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) to prioritise information integrity ahead of the March 5 House of Representatives election. The groups say cyberattacks, data breaches and coordinated disinformation campaigns could distort voter perceptions if left unchecked.
Their statement follows recent disclosures that the EC and security agencies are already tracking problematic content online. According to civil society actors, the current approach remains too opaque for the public. They argue that voters should be able to see what kinds of deceptive posts and manipulated videos are being removed or sanctioned during the campaign period.
Call for transparency and tech cooperation
The organisations have asked the EC to maintain a public dashboard of cases under review, categories of harmful content, and actions taken under the election code of conduct and cyber law. They also want more structured cooperation with major platforms such as Meta, TikTok and YouTube to flag deepfakes, synthetic audio and financially motivated viral hate speech.
While welcoming the EC’s earlier partnerships with platforms during the 2022 cycle, the statement notes that the 2026 contest is taking place in a far more AI-saturated environment. It urges authorities to invest in digital forensics capacity and provide clear, rights-respecting guidelines to avoid both over-censorship and impunity for clearly harmful content.