Nepal Clamps Down on Online Abuse After Deadly Floods

Tue Sep 08 2026 14:03:21 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The government threatens to prosecute social‑media harassment of flood survivors, following widespread hostile comments targeting those still missing.

After catastrophic floods, Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah announced that online harassment of survivors will be treated as a crime. Police are investigating the source of harmful posts and have convened a committee to monitor social media. The law allows up to five years in jail and hefty fines for defamatory content. Civil‑society groups caution that some hostility stems from political extremism and “rage‑baiting.” The crackdown follows repeated viral videos where grieving families were met with cruel insults.

Nepal cracks down on online abuse of flood survivors

Some survivors turned to social media to ask for help and posted about missing relatives. They were met with hostile comments that critics say are criminal. Prime Minister Balendra Shah warned that those who "belittle" people suffering in this fragile period would be prosecuted.
In a Facebook post, Shah wrote: "People who make unnecessary remarks, belittle those in pain or seek to cause them further suffering at this sensitive time are criminals".

Police are tracing the origin of hostile posts to identify the addresses and phone numbers involved. They have set up a 10‑member committee to monitor online comments under the country’s Electronic Transactions Act, which allows up to five years of jail time and a fine of up to 100,000 rupees.

A woman whose brother vanished two weeks after the floods shared that rescue efforts were sluggish. When she posted her criticism online, she received “many nasty comments.” She lamented that the added pain exacerbated her suffering.

Another case involved a young woman who livestreamed her frustration over the lack of urgency in searching for her husband. The clip went viral, but it also attracted insults, including a call for her to jump into the river. Some commenters called for “consolation” rather than cursing the victim.

Dovan Rai, executive director of Body & Data, a Nepal‑based digital‑rights group, warned that some harassing posts likely come from participants engaged in contrary “rage‑baiting.” He added that extremist sentiments sympathetic to the government can also fuel polarized online discourse.