Nepal cyber team probes abuse targeting flash flood survivors

Kathmandu,UPDATED: Sep 7, 2026 12:24 IST

Nepal's Cyber Bureau has formed a 10-member team to investigate social media users accused of posting abusive and hateful comments targeting people affected by last month's flash floods, according to a media report. The move came after Prime Minister Balendra Shah warned on Saturday that those mocking or harassing people suffering in the aftermath of the disaster would face action.

The August 26 disaster was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the border with Tibet, sending a huge surge of water and debris downstream through the Bhotekoshi River. The floods left hundreds dead, thousands missing and devastated settlements in northern and central parts of the Himalayan nation.

Families searching for relatives missing in the floods had turned to social media to seek help, but some of their appeals were met with hostile and demeaning comments, The Kathmandu Post reported on Monday. The Cyber Bureau is compiling profiles of users who posted such comments and is working to identify their addresses and telephone numbers, even though no formal complaints have been filed by those targeted, the report said.

"A 10-member team is working on this," Cyber Bureau spokesperson Dilip Kumar Giri was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "Such behaviour, which causes further distress to flood survivors, must be discouraged. Those responsible will face action."

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Shah said those who "belittle those in pain or seek to cause them further suffering at this sensitive time are criminals" and warned that the government would show "no leniency towards them". However, the online abuse continued despite the warning. The newspaper reported that a video posted on Sunday showed a woman holding a young child and appealing for help to locate her husband and other relatives, but it drew mocking and insulting comments.

The Cyber Bureau has also arrested a man in Kathmandu over comments it said could inflame ethnic tensions in connection with the disaster, the report added. Birendra Madai of Baitadi was arrested on Saturday after posting comments about the ethnic identity of people affected by the floods, it said. Giri said police could begin an investigation even without a formal complaint if enough evidence was gathered. "Police can collect evidence, investigate such comments and move forward with legal action even when nobody has filed a complaint," he said.

Nepal's Electronic Transactions Act, 2008 provides for fines and imprisonment for certain forms of online abuse. Section 47 bars the publication or display through electronic media of material that promotes hatred or hostility, disrupts relations between ethnic or religious communities, or involves harassment, humiliation or other indecent conduct. Those convicted can face a fine of up to NRs 100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both, with repeat offenders liable to harsher punishment.

The action by Nepal's Cyber Bureau follows reports of abusive online posts aimed at flood survivors and families searching for missing relatives after the August 26 disaster, with officials saying legal action can be taken even without a formal complaint.

With PTI Inputs

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