Pay Heed to Digital Democracy: Commentary

Narayan Prasad Ghimire / Kathmandu: The government recently renamed the Ministry of Information and Communications as the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. It is indeed a welcome act that technology has been linked to information and communication. However, the government has not made it clear why the ministry was renamed and how it would link technology with information and communications or what are other sectors it was going to encompass with it.

Furthermore, people are yet to know whether it is a mere rephrasing or a beginning of new initiative to enhance quality deliverables, so that it would be a stepping stone towards good governance.

Present is the age of information and communication technology (ICT). ICT is the booster of development activities and the foundation and accelerator of digital democracy. And, the digital democracy is the system that promotes and encourages people’s participation in governance.

In simple terms, digital democracy is a two-way communication between the government and the people, between the political parties and the people, between the policy makers and people. It advocates for people’s active participation on decision making and policy setting processes through constant interactions and debate on any burning issues. The digital democracy not only ensures people’s direct access to government’s activities but also ensures their engagement on decision making process.

Again, the ICT is the foundation to spread the worldwide wonder – the internet-, which has turned every village a global village. The internet is gadget of globalization.

With the increasing penetration of internet in Nepal, the use of social media (especially Facebook and twitter), the number of news portals has increased lately. The extensive debates among people and netizens on the government activities and political behaviours have not only pointed out weaknesses but also recommended for corrections. Moreover, the healthy debate on the country politics has helped the democratization of politics. But, many take the criticism of government, of bureaucracy, and of political parties as antagonistic, which actually violates citizen’s right to free expression.

Needless to say, as internet is not full of merits, the users can maintain restraint on legitimate issues. But, in the name of taking disciplinary and legal action, the State cannot suppress citizen’s right to free expression. The news of cyber crimes come time and again, but without cyber law in the country. To this, the Electronic Transaction Act is being used to harass citizens and journalists, so it needs immediate amendment, as its aim is to advocate for fair trade and transaction through electronic media.

Propelling good governance through ICT is to percolate the fundamental values of democratic system among the citizens living in any part of the country.

The above mentioned issues fall under a vast regime of internet governance. Talking about internet governance, Nepal too has witnessed various movements lately as- open Nepal, open budget, parliament, data transparency, open government data. Though these movements seem unorganized, these are contributing to whet the internet governance issues. Through these, the government has been continuously made aware on the transparency, which is one of the key issues discussed in the digital age in the regional and global forums on internet governance.

There is an Internet Society Chapter in Nepal too. Although its activities have made people aware on the internet governance issues, there are still many more areas it can focus to bolster the ecosystem of internet governance.

In this connection, it is relevant enough to remind one of a mega global event on internet governance – the 10th Internet Governance Forum which was held from 10 to 13 November in Joao Pessoa of Brazil this year. Myriad of issues ranging from cyber warfare/security to internet economy were discussed among governments, civil society organizations, techies, advocates, policy makers, legal defenders, technocrats, and governance experts. This annual event mandated by the UN is continuous since 2006 bringing together diverse people in a common platform and whet debate on the most pressing issues facing the world. It is a very good platform for a country like Nepal to learn many things. But, Nepal has not shown interest in such event to the extent it had to.

Nepal has meanwhile entered a changed political and constitutional set up. At this time, leaving technology merely to technologists/technicians is not wise. The augmentation of digital issues should be made the multi-stakeholders’ concern. As internet governance is a vast ecosystem, lonely efforts of government, or of civil society organizations, of technologists and of policy makers are not enough. It is time to dismantle the traditional policy debate with digital channels and unleash people’s power, which bolster governance. Changed context needs more robust governance, for this Nepal needs to walk, not crawl.RSS