It is reported that in November 2023, the Nepali government banned TikTok to protect “social harmony”, in response to public concerns that TikTok encourages hate speech. This decision followed the "Directives on the Operation of Social Networking 2023", issued days earlier, that tightened content regulation across all social media platforms.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in Nepal for the year 2023. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

According to Section 3 of the Online Media Operation Directive, online news companies are required to be registered with the Department of Information and Broadcasting to operate.

The government owns shares in some telecommunications companies. In particular, Nepal Telecom (NTC) or Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited (NDCL), the incumbent telecommunications operator, is a state-owned company with a state shareholding of approximately 90%.

Nepal does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation.

Nepal has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Pursuant to Rule 7A of the National Broadcasting Regulation, licensed over-the-top (OTT) operators offering services to customers or generating revenue within Nepal are obligated to establish a cache server within the country. These operators are required to register customers on a server located in Nepal before granting access to their content and must retain detailed customer information. Additionally, records of all transactions must be securely stored on a Customer Management System Server. However, the regulation does not clearly define the term "Customer Management System Server" or specify whether such a server must be physically situated within Nepal and directly managed by the OTT service providers. The regulation defines OTT as the broadcasting of content on demand via the internet, encompassing media streaming services delivered through various platforms utilising internet connectivity

Section 12.4 of the Privacy Act requires the consent of the data subject for the disclosing, making public, or transferring of the following data: details relating to a medical examination; details relating to property and income; further information relating to employment; details relating to family matters; biometric data and fingerprints; signatures or electronic signatures; further information concerning the political affiliation and voting; and further information pertaining to profession and business. The term 'transfer' may signify the transfer of personal data outside Nepal, thereby requiring specific consent from the individual, although there is no clear evidence about the applicability of this requirement to cross-border data transfers.

Nepal has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

It is reported that Nepal lacks sufficient resources to maintain qualified patent examiners, and enforcement officials are not adequately trained. In addition, it is reported that insufficient fines do not deter patent infringement.

Nepal lacks a comprehensive data protection regime. Nevertheless, the Individual Privacy Act 2075 (वैयक्तिक गोपनीयता सम्बन्धी ऐन, २०७५ ) enforces the constitutional right to privacy, incorporating provisions on the collection, storage, and disclosure of data, and mandates individual consent prior to the collection of personal information. Privacy in Nepal is further governed by the Individual Privacy Regulation 2077 (2020), which regulates the implementation of the Privacy Act, and the Data Act 2079 (2022), which regulates the generation, management, storage, and publication of data, delineating the responsibilities of data controllers, producers, and users.

Nepal is not a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Nepal has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair use model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Art. 17 of the Copyright Act explicitly adopts the fair use model, allowing limited portions of a published work to be cited without authorisation from the author or copyright holder, provided such use does not prejudice their economic rights. In such cases, the source and author’s name (if indicated) must be appropriately credited. Arts. 18–23 of the Copyright Act outline an additional set of exceptions, which include reproduction for personal use, educational purposes, or use by libraries and archives, as well as reproduction, broadcasting, or communication of works for public information purposes, among others.

It is reported that the protection of intellectual property rights remains a significant challenge in Nepal, as the existing laws and regulations are outdated and not very effective, and their enforcement is inconsistent. This situation is further compounded by difficulties in preventing the sale of digital media.