MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA |
More Nepalis today are getting information online than the number of readers of all major dailies combined. This digital community is making up Nepal's new public sphere. Social media accords its users much more power to participate in the production of information, it is interactive, immediate and has multimedia content. Many of the estimated 3.5 million new voters in the next election will be Internet users. This crowd to protest a Maoist five-day strike in Kathmandu in 2010 (above) was mobilised largely by net activists. As with all media content, there are the good, the bad and the ugly. The Internet is a double-edged sword whose very freedom provides a forum for those against freedom.
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