Digital Rights Summit 2025 highlights urgent issues in Nepal’s digital landscape

काठमाडौं ।

The Digital Rights Summit 2025, organized by Digital Rights Nepal (DRN), concluded with powerful calls for reforms to address the challenges facing Nepal’s digital environment. The summit featured the launch of the “State of Digital Rights and Safety in Nepal 2024” report, which was unveiled by Chief Guest Hon. Top Bahadur Magar, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the digital rights landscape in Nepal and sets the stage for the country’s digital policy discussions in the coming years.

The event’s keynote address was delivered by Zach Lampell, Senior Legal Advisor at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), who emphasized the need for Nepal to harmonize its digital policies with global human rights standards to ensure free expression, privacy, and data protection for all.

The summit also addressed the rising concerns over government surveillance, the misuse of laws such as the Electronic Transactions Act, and the proposed Social Media Regulation Bill and IT and Cybersecurity Bill 2024, which could restrict online freedoms.

The panel discussion included representatives from the government, MPs, journalists, civil society leaders, and experts from the technology sector.

Discussions throughout the summit delved into issues like online freedom of expression, online privacy and data protection, internet censorship, online harassment, and the legal frameworks currently in place to protect digital rights. The summit also spotlighted the rising concerns of online gender-based violence and the growing digital divide, especially in remote areas, and called for more inclusive digital policies.

The Digital Rights Summit 2025 not only identified key challenges but also charted a path forward. Participants called for sustained dialogue, stronger legal safeguards, and collaborative efforts to uphold digital rights and freedoms in Nepal. The summit concluded with a shared commitment to fostering a safer, more open, and rights-based digital ecosystem for all.