National Advertisement Policy, 2083 approved; social media and AI advertising brought under regulation

KATHMANDU: The government has approved the 'National Advertisement Policy, 2083,' aimed at making the advertising sector well managed, transparent, responsive and tech‑savvy. The policy, endorsed at today’s cabinet meeting, highlights the need to bring advertising in traditional media, together with social networking sites, digital platforms, influencer marketing and artificial intelligence, onto the regulatory radar. The government said the policy was introduced with increasing international competition in the advertising market, the influence of multinational companies, the rapid expansion of digital technology and the need to impart the right information to consumers in mind.

The policy states that enhancing the competitive capacity of local products, creating jobs in the advertising sector, expanding revenue, protecting consumer rights and controlling obscene, violent, gender‑discriminatory and content that negatively affects children are priorities. It also states that false and misleading advertisements will be subject to action and that compensation will be provided to consumers if they suffer any damage. The government aims to significantly increase the contribution of the advertising sector to gross domestic product (GDP) within the next five years. The policy is designed to develop and expand the advertising sector, make businesses clean, competitive, respectful and transparent, and ensure that consumers have the right to choose quality goods and services.

To achieve this thrust, priorities including expanding the advertising market, scientific classification of media, effective monitoring and regulation of advertisements, coordination among stakeholders and building institutional structures have been incorporated in the policy.

According to the policy, special incentives will be provided for advertising domestic goods and services, while companies selling foreign goods and services will be required to spend a certain portion of their business on consumer awareness programmes. The government has adopted a policy to discourage the trend of presenting advertisements as news and news as advertisements. Legal and regulatory arrangements will be made to prevent situations where positive or negative news is published or broadcast, depending on whether advertising was given.

The most important aspect of the new policy is the regulation of digital advertising. The government will make self‑declaration mandatory for advertisements made through social media, digital platforms and influencers. It has been stated that AI‑generated “deepfake” advertisements will be legally regulated. Strict control will be imposed on advertisements that are misleading, false or negatively affect consumers. The government has proposed measures to strengthen self‑regulation mechanisms, codes of conduct and enforcement systems to maintain the quality of advertisements.

The policy also gives special attention to social justice. Ads that discriminate against any class, caste, religion, language, culture, community or gender will not be allowed. Advertisements must respect gender and sexual minorities, people with disabilities and marginalised communities. Moreover, ads that undermine Nepal’s sovereignty, national flag, national anthem, national figures or religious tolerance will be completely prohibited. It has also been stated that using disasters, grief or sensitive situations for commercial purposes will be banned. The government has adopted a policy to make extensive improvements in the government advertising distribution system.

An integrated information management system will be developed to make the processes of distributing and paying for government advertisements transparent. The policy specifies provisions to publish and broadcast local and provincial‑level information and advertisements through media at the same level, and to distribute public‑interest advertisements proportionately and fairly. Arrangements will be made to support media based on local languages, culture and communities through advertisements.

Under the institutional framework, the federal, provincial and local levels will jointly implement the policy. The advertisement board will be developed as a more autonomous, empowered and resourceful body. Provisions have been made to form a provincial advertisement monitoring and regulation committee and a municipal advertisement committee at the local level. Additionally, the policy envisages the formation of a national advertising council for monitoring, regulating and self‑regulating advertisements. An integrated information system, information bank and classification and grading of media will be set up to make the advertising market transparent. For policy implementation, there will be extensive amendments to laws, regulations, codes of conduct and procedures related to advertising.

An advertising fund will be established, into which money received from the government, fees, advertising businesses and various agencies will be deposited. Programmes for advertising market development, research, data systems, information banks, media classification, consumer awareness and capacity building for advertising professionals will be conducted from this fund. The ministry is also set to review the policy every year and undertake a full review every five years.

Once implemented, the policy is expected to bring significant changes to Nepal’s advertising market, including digital regulation, consumer protection, government advertising distribution, media classification, advertising transparency and institutional development of the advertising industry. In particular, the provision to bring advertisements on social media and those generated by artificial intelligence clearly under regulation for the first time lays the foundation for restructuring the advertising market.

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