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Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah has declared that individuals posting abusive comments targeting flood survivors will face strict legal consequences without leniency. In a Facebook post published on Saturday, Shah said people who make unnecessary remarks, belittle those in pain or seek to cause them further suffering at this sensitive time are criminals. The prime minister’s intervention came after numerous survivors appealing for help on social media about missing family members encountered hostile and demeaning responses.
The country’s Cyber Bureau has responded by establishing a dedicated 10-member team to track down the perpetrators, according to spokesperson Dilip Kumar Giri. Officers are reviewing social media profiles to identify addresses and phone numbers linked to the abusive accounts even without formal complaints being lodged, Giri told local media outlets. This proactive approach allows police to collect evidence and pursue legal action independently when sufficient proof exists.
One individual has already been detained in connection with the crackdown. Birendra Madai from Baitadi was arrested in Kathmandu after posting content about the ethnic identity of those affected by the floods, which police determined could inflame communal tensions, India Today reported. The arrest was also covered by The Independent and other regional outlets.
The Bhotekoshi flash floods on August 26 were caused by an ice-rock avalanche close to the border with Tibet, resulting in almost 1,400 deaths and nearly 4,000 people remaining missing, figures compiled by Nepali authorities show. Many victims’ families turned to platforms like Facebook to seek information or urge faster rescue operations, only for their posts to attract insults and mockery. Some comments specifically targeted women and members of certain ethnic groups, exacerbating the trauma for those already grieving, according to accounts in The Kathmandu Post.
Penalties for such online harassment fall under Nepal’s Electronic Transactions Act, which provides for jail terms of up to five years or fines reaching 100,000 rupees. Cyber Bureau officials have emphasised that such behaviour must be discouraged as it adds to the distress of flood survivors during a sensitive recovery period. Giri stated that a 10-member team is working on this and those responsible will face action.
Prior to the latest measures, Nepali officials had engaged with representatives from Meta and TikTok on August 28 to demand quicker removal of graphic flood-related content and misinformation, The Straits Times reported. The discussions highlighted delays of 24 to 48 hours in platform responses that allowed harmful material to spread. Authorities have also formed a broader multi-agency group to monitor online activity throughout the disaster response.
A non-profit organisation focused on digital safety has suggested that some of the negative posts stem from users practising rage baiting to drive online engagement, a BBC report found. The floods have not only caused immediate loss of life but prompted warnings of potential disease outbreaks due to water contamination, leading to the distribution of thousands of cholera vaccines by health authorities. Reconstruction efforts in the affected regions are projected to require substantial funding, with some estimates placing the cost as high as 5 billion dollars according to assessments cited in Nepali media.
