Digital Rights Festival 2025

All times listed in the festival programme are in Nepal time zone (GMT+5:45).

Digital Rights Conference

December 16, 2025

Theme: Building Trust in the Digital Age: Governance, Integrity, and Inclusion for a Resilient Digital Future in Nepal

08:30 – 09:00

Registration & light breakfast

Emcee: Adv. Babu Ram Aryal

09:00 – 10:30

Opening Ceremony & Welcome Remarks

Chair: Mr. Tara Nath DahalChief Guest: Honorable Nahakul SubediSpecial Guest: Ms. Hanaa Singer-HamdyWelcome Remarks: Senior Advocate Upendra Keshari NeupaneKeynote Speaker: Prof. Dr. Rohan Samarajeeva

10:30 – 11:45

Safeguarding Human Rights at the Digital Frontier

Moderator: Mr. Ananda GautamSpeaker: Dr Lily ThapaSpeaker: Mr. Pradip PaudelSpeaker: Dr. Chandra Dev BhattaSpeaker: Mr. Roshan Pokharel

11:45 – 12:00

Tea Break

12:00 – 13:00

Algorithmic Transparency, Digital Bias, and Platform Governance

Moderator: Ms. Dipti PaudelSpeaker: Mr. Adesh KhadkaSpeaker: Dr. Bhoj Raj GhimireSpeaker: Dr. Dovan RaiSpeaker: Mr. Pranjal Timsina

13:15 – 14:00

Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:00

Unpacking Nepal's AI Policy: Multistakeholder Pathways to an Inclusive Digital Future (Group Work)

Moderator: Mr. Prabesh SubediSpeaker (Technology): Mr. Bikash GurungSpeaker: Ms. Sapana ShahiSpeaker (Civil Society): Mr. Birodh KhatiwadaSpeaker (Business): Mr. Khushal Regmi

15:00 – 16:30

Information Integrity and Digital Literacy in Nepal: Challenges and the Way Forward

Moderator: Mr. Madhu AcharyaSpeaker: Mr. Ajay Bhadra KhanalSpeaker: Mr. Laxman Datt PantSpeaker: Mr. Chandra KishorSpeaker: Ms. Dr. Jana Wilbricht

16:30 – 17:00

Closing Ceremony & 2026 Commitments

Chief Guest: Hon. Ram Prasad Bhandari 'Sambhav'Special Guest: Prof. Dr. Bijaya Prasad MishraSession Chair: Senior Advocate Upendra Keshari NeupaneVote of Thanks: Ms. Nirjana Sharma

Session Details & Speakers

Session #1

Registration & light breakfast

Adv. Babu Ram Aryal

Emcee

Founding Chair, Digital Freedom Coalition

Session #2

Opening Ceremony & Welcome Remarks

The conference opens with distinguished guests including Honorable Nahakul Subedi, Judge at the Supreme Court of Nepal and Ms. Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal. Prof. Dr. Rohan Samarajeeva, Chair of LIRNEasia, will share regional perspectives on digital rights and governance. The ceremony sets the stage for a day of critical dialogue on building trust in Nepal's digital ecosystem, emphasizing the crucial role of multi-stakeholder collaboration in shaping an equitable digital future.

Session #3

Safeguarding Human Rights at the Digital Frontier

As Nepal accelerates its digital transformation, this session addresses the pressing need to protect fundamental human rights in cyberspace. The digital frontier presents both unprecedented opportunities for empowerment and new challenges to privacy, freedom of expression, and digital security. This session brings together human rights defenders, policymakers, political analysts, and internet governance experts to examine how constitutional rights translate into the digital realm.

Session #4

Algorithmic Transparency, Digital Bias, and Platform Governance

Algorithms increasingly shape access to information, opportunities, and services, yet often function as opaque systems with limited public oversight. This session examines algorithmic accountability, bias in AI systems, and digital platform governance, focusing on how Nepal can design frameworks that protect the public interest while sustaining innovation. Perspectives from government, academia, civil society, and industry ground the discussion in both policy and practice.

Session #5

Unpacking Nepal's AI Policy: Multistakeholder Pathways to an Inclusive Digital Future (Group Work)

This interactive, workshop-style session collaboratively examines Nepal’s emerging AI policy landscape, recognizing that effective AI governance depends on broad, multi-stakeholder input. Bringing together participants from the technology sector, civil society, business, and disability rights communities, the session uses facilitated group work, presentations, and plenary discussion to map existing policies, identify gaps, and co-design pathways toward an inclusive AI ecosystem that serves all Nepalis.

Session #6

Information Integrity and Digital Literacy in Nepal: Challenges and the Way Forward

In an environment of information abundance, distinguishing credible information from misinformation and disinformation has become increasingly difficult. This session examines the dual challenge of information integrity and digital literacy gaps in Nepal. Drawing on perspectives from government, media, journalism, and international research institutions, the discussion analyzes the information ecosystem, identifies key drivers of misinformation, and explores strategies for cultivating a digitally literate society capable of critical and responsible information consumption.

Session #7

Closing Ceremony & 2026 Commitments

The conference concludes with reflections from distinguished guests including Hon. Ram Prasad Bhandari "Sambhav", Acting Chief Commissioner of the Election Commission, Senior Advocate Upendra Keshari Neupane, Founder of the Internet Governance Institute, and Nirjana Sharma, Lead for Communication and Information Unit at UNESCO. This closing session will synthesize key insights from the day's discussions and formalize commitments for 2026, establishing concrete action points for advancing digital rights, governance, and inclusion in Nepal. Participants will be invited to pledge specific contributions toward building a more trustworthy, equitable, and resilient digital future for all Nepalis.