Cybercrimes surge in Nepal, over 17,000 complaints filed this year

Kathmandu – Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki has stated that cyberbullying and other cybercrimes are rapidly increasing in Nepal.

Speaking at a meeting of the Federalism Strengthening and National Interest Committee on Thursday, he noted that incidents of cybercrime have risen alongside the growing use of the internet and mobile phones.

According to him, women and youth are particularly affected by these crimes. Current statistics show that over 4,000 complaints related to hate speech from fake social media accounts have been registered with the police.

Similarly, more than 3,000 cases of bullying and harassment have been filed. He mentioned that financial crimes are the most prevalent, with over 10,000 complaints lodged. Activities like account hacking, online fraud, threats, and sexual violence are becoming widespread, he said.

Inspector General Karki pointed out that since social media platforms are operated by foreign companies, obtaining necessary information for investigating cybercrime cases poses a significant challenge.

He stated that Nepal lacks a direct network and adequate legal provisions with the social media platforms operating in the country. The police have had to rely on personal contacts to obtain information from platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

He explained that it takes 20–25 days for user information to reach the police for investigations. In cases of minor harassment or bullying, usernames are obtained within about a week, but in serious cases like missing minors or suicide-related incidents, information is received within 24 hours.

He noted that since these platforms are not registered in Nepal, investigations are delayed, leading to a situation where victims do not receive justice. He mentioned that so far, TikTok, Viber, Nimbuzz, WeTalk, and CocoLive are officially registered in Nepal. However, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is not registered. Despite being widely used, the lack of registration complicates the process of obtaining user information and removing controversial content.

He said that even when requests are sent to Meta, it takes about a week to receive a response. There are issues with obtaining user information or takedown responses from platforms like WhatsApp, Discord, X, Snapchat, IMO, WeChat, Reddit, YouTube, and Gmail.

He called for clear legal provisions to control cybercrime and for digital platforms to be registered in Nepal. He urged the creation of laws to impose strict penalties on those involved in cybercrime, stating that the existing laws alone are insufficient to control cybercrime.