Bini Dahal

In the past few weeks, Nepali actor Paul Shah and the controversy he has gotten into has become the talk of the town. Two cases have been filed against Shah, claiming him of committing rape. With the police busy investigating the case, we are in no position to judge or say anything for and against both sides. However, Nepali media – especially YouTube--, which is known for its nosy nature, has gone way ahead to act as a forum of mini-lawyers and mini court. And this kind of action has its own set of repercussions.

The outside of the Tanahun police office where Shah was placed was crowded with hundreds of people. Social activists and supporters were present there. And there were media personnel running YouTube channels, busy recording every move of the people. However, after being unable to control the overtly active YouTube media and the subsequent complaints filed against them, the police has now begun catching those YouTubers who are found crossing the line.

Not just this, even strict policies have been in place. As stated in the updated Nepal gazette, any individual who wishes to operate a YouTube channel has to register it and pay Rs. 500,000 as fee. This is the government’s way of regulating the ever mushrooming YouTubers and promoting the production of better contents.

It is a well-known fact that when the quantity of anything rises, its quality degrades subsequently. And this is the case with Nepali YouTube media. Their main goal is to ensure a higher viewer rating and like counts by hook or by crook. Such an activity has tarnished the image of many people, all because of misogynistic and unwanted captions and contents. Not just this, certain YouTubers are also found to be so active that they have gone on to try and influence the ongoing investigation processs and assassinate the characters of many.

On a positive note, police catching YouTubers is a way of making them alert of their words and actions. Mushrooming YouTube channels and the growing tendency of misinforming and misogynistic news reports makes this kind of regulation a necessary evil. Yet, many fear this step could undermine the press freedom of the country. There might be situations where even genuine YouTube channels could be affected. So, to protect the press freedom, better work has to be done. We need to remember that many have presented wonderful contents and have increased the ability of the Nepali online media.

In a world where contents published on YouTube sell like a hotdog, controlling people can be very difficult. But, we cannot ignore and leave everything to remain unregulated and unmanaged. YouTubers should be more alert of what they can present and what they cannot. In the name of freedom of expression using derogatory words and assassinating characters of people is like preventing people from enjoying their right to live a respectful and dignified life.

As media people, it is their responsibility to present credible and unbiased contents. As an audience, we should also hold the responsibility of differentiating between the right and wrong kinds of content. This way, we can prevent ourselves from becoming prey to the wrong content and erroneous perspective.