Kathmandu, Sept 7: Nepal’s Cyber Bureau has deployed a 10-member team to investigate abusive and hateful social media posts targeting survivors of last month’s devastating flash floods and families searching for relatives still missing after the disaster.
The move comes days after Prime Minister Balendra Shah warned that people mocking, harassing or belittling those affected by the disaster would face legal action, amid reports of insensitive and hostile comments on social media.
“A 10-member team is working on this,” Cyber Bureau spokesperson Dilip Kumar Giri was quoted as saying.
“Such behaviour, which causes further distress to flood survivors, must be discouraged. Those responsible will face action,” Giri said.
The August 26 disaster was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near Nepal’s border with Tibet, sending a massive surge of water and debris downstream through the Bhotekoshi River. The flash floods caused widespread destruction in northern and central parts of the Himalayan nation, leaving hundreds dead and thousands missing, according to reports.
In the aftermath, families searching for missing relatives turned to social media platforms to seek information and assistance. However, some of their appeals reportedly attracted mocking, insulting and demeaning comments, further adding to the distress of people already dealing with loss and uncertainty.
The Cyber Bureau is now compiling profiles of users accused of posting such material and working to identify their addresses and telephone numbers. Officials have indicated that investigations can proceed even when those targeted have not lodged formal complaints.
Giri said police have the authority to gather evidence and initiate legal proceedings when sufficient evidence of unlawful online activity is available.
“Police can collect evidence, investigate such comments and move forward with legal action even when nobody has filed a complaint,” he said.
The authorities have already made an arrest in connection with online comments related to the disaster. Birendra Madai of Baitadi was arrested in Kathmandu on Saturday over remarks that police said could inflame ethnic tensions concerning people affected by the floods.
Prime Minister Shah had warned on Saturday that those attempting to worsen the suffering of disaster victims would be treated as criminals.
Those who “belittle those in pain or seek to cause them further suffering at this sensitive time are criminals”, Shah said in a Facebook post, adding that the government would show “no leniency towards them”.
Despite the warning, reports of online abuse continued. A video posted on Sunday, for instance, showed a woman holding a young child and appealing for help to locate her husband and other relatives. The appeal reportedly attracted mocking and insulting comments from some social media users.
The Cyber Bureau’s action comes against the backdrop of Nepal’s Electronic Transactions Act, 2008, which provides legal provisions against certain forms of online abuse. Section 47 prohibits the publication or display through electronic media of material promoting hatred or hostility, disrupting relations between ethnic or religious communities, or involving harassment, humiliation and other indecent conduct.
Those convicted under the provision can face a fine of up to NRs 100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both. Repeat offenders may face harsher punishment.
The latest crackdown underscores the government’s growing focus on online harassment and hate speech during a period of heightened public distress following the Bhotekoshi disaster.
Officials have stressed that social media users could face legal consequences for content that causes further harm to survivors and families, even in the absence of a formal complaint.
