The Tamesis
kathmandu – In an effort to control misinformation, disinformation and hate speech on social media during the 2022 national elections, the electoral commission announced plans to coordinate with technology companies such as Meta (which operates Facebook and Instagram), X and Chinese company ByteDance (parent of video-sharing app TikTok).
Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesman for the commission, said this time they would take a new approach to curb the spread of misleading information ahead of the March 5 elections.
The Commission has an Electoral Information, Communication and Coordination Center (EIDC) under it to make elections more systematic and technology-driven. Within EIDC, the Information Integrity Promotion Center (IIPC) works to stop the spread of misinformation and misleading content. Representatives from various government agencies participated in this mechanism.
“These agencies analyze harmful and toxic content and recommend actions to relevant regulators,” Barta told The Washington Post. “This also involves working with platforms such as Meta and TikTok.” The electoral commission classifies misinformation, disinformation and hate speech as harmful content.
The pollster has so far written to agencies asking for action on 98 pieces of content on social media.
It also announced tighter monitoring of election-related advertising on social media. Even a small spend on online advertising can have a big impact, as specific constituencies, social groups or genders can be targeted.
The commission is working with Meta and TikTok to regulate political advertising, track spending and content transparency during the 2022 local and federal elections. Facebook’s ad library has since included Nepal, providing the public with spend and content details. Similar collaborations are underway this year to curb misinformation, false content and hate speech.
Likewise, a task force has been set up under the Comprehensive Election Security Plan 2025 to monitor social media. Nepal Army spokesman Rajaram Basnet said the team consisted of representatives from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and state intelligence agencies.
“Security agencies are closely monitoring false posts and misinformation as social media becomes the new battleground for election campaigns,” Nepal Police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle said.
The Nepal Police has formed cyber cells at the district level specifically for the election period.
“We are using specialized software eMonitor+ to identify and track misinformation, disinformation and hate speech,” Kavler said. “We work directly with the Electoral Commission’s central joint cyber team to identify candidates or campaigns that use fake likes or manipulated videos to mislead the public.”
The Nepal Police Cyber Bureau has been empowered to take immediate action against violations of the Election Code of Conduct or the Electronic Transactions Act.
Kavler also said they have taken action against individuals who incite others through false likes on social media posts. A few days ago, Facebook likes for Bhaktapur 2 party candidate Rajiv Khatri looked a bit unnatural. It later emerged that most of Khatri’s Facebook likes were from fake accounts.
Similar accusations were leveled against Eliza Gautam, the proportional representation candidate from the Amu People’s Party. Her husband, journalist Rishi Dhamala, is campaigning in Rautahat-4. However, the police are yet to take action against any of them.
Khatri claimed that his social media posts were retweeted by others without his knowledge.
Experts say such activity is unlikely to occur unless a social media account is compromised, saying manipulation often requires full access to the account or simultaneous cooperation from the owner, which is highly unlikely.
As campaigns increasingly turn to social media, platform algorithms have a greater influence on voters than ever before. The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is making it harder for voters to distinguish between truth and fiction.
Experts say regulating social media algorithms is difficult, but public awareness can help. Artificial intelligence expert Dovan Rai said, “If candidates share false videos or misleading posts, their parties should be held accountable. Voters must also remain vigilant.”
