Some 95 per cent Nepali internet users exposed to disinformation: CMR-Nepal Survey

 Most Nepali internet users are exposed to disinformation, a survey by the Center for Media Research – Nepal (CMR-Nepal) revealed.

The survey results show that 95.5 per cent of internet users receive disinformation, largely through social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Nepal Twitter Users Survey 2019 was conducted by CMR-Nepal in November 2019 and results are based on 542 valid responses.

“The results have some fascinating, and probably not so surprising, results,” says CMR-Nepal chairperson Rishikesh Dahal. “This is very concerning as almost all internet users are exposed to some kind of disinformation,” he said, adding that it shows there is an urgent need for the stakeholders to devise an effective and multi-layered plan to help citizens distinguish disinformation from valid information.

A huge majority of the respondents, some 95.5 per cent, said they have seen disinformation online in the last seven days. Those who had not seen disinformation online in a week were just a handful.

And, for most of Nepalis, the main platform where they believe say saw disinformation is YouTube. A total of 85.6 per cent said they saw disinformation on YouTube. This validates claims that ‘YouTubers’ are not only sensationalising issues but also feeding misguided and fake information to garner more views, thereby earn more.

Facebook and Twitter are not far behind as more than two-thirds said they also saw disinformation on Facebook and more than half saw disinformation on Twitter. Only 17 per cent saw the disinformation on other websites, many of them stating websites like news websites, and very few, less than half-a-percent saw it in newspapers, the survey reads, adding that there could be a trust factor playing in as people tend to trust newspapers more and probably believe what they see on newspaper are true. 

“In Nepal’s context, many surveys conducted by various organizations in past decade showed mainstream media as most trustworthy institution, up to 90 per cent public ranking media as trustworthy institution,” says Tilak Pathak, who studies public trust on media.

“It’s not that media does not make mistake,” he said, adding that they do make mistake, but they also correct errors and apologize to the public, thus keeping in the public trust. “Therefore, even when there is disinformation in mainstream media, the general public trust it and may have not identified them as disinformation.”

The respondents were also asked whether disinformation is already a problem or will be a problem for our society. More than two-third (some 73.6 per cent) Twitter users believe that disinformation is already a problem for our society and politics, whereas a little more than 12 per cent think it will create problems in the future and further 11 per cent think it may already have been a problem. “In total, 96.5 percent of them think disinformation is or will be a problem for our society.”

Only a very few, some 1.6 per cent, believe it not a problem now and 1.1 per cent believe it will not create a problem in the future. Rest either did not reply to the question or blamed mainstream media for disinformation, the survey revealed, adding that most Nepali Twitter users (some 86.5 per cent) said they are concerned about fake news, misinformation, and disinformation online. “Only five per cent said they are not concerned while 8.5 per cent were neutral.”

Most Twitter users put media and government as the most responsible agencies to tackle disinformation online. About 40 per cent of all respondents put media on the most responsible side whereas 38 percent put the government on the most responsible side. About 32 per cent considered users as most responsible, whereas 30 per cent considered platforms as most responsible.

Those considering civil society as most responsible to tackle disinformation online were 22.5 per cent. Some 9 per cent, considered there are other agencies most responsible. Those also choosing others listed educational institutions, influencers, and fact-checkers.

“Fact-checking initiatives are very important in the infodemic era, but equally important are efforts from government, political parties, media, civil society, and society’s opinion leaders to spread critical thinking and information literacy among the citizens,” said according to the editor of NepalFactCheck.org, an initiative of CMR-Nepal, Umesh Shrestha.

Disinformation is set to pose a big threat of Nepal’s democracy as it could not only impact upcoming elections but also public debate and understanding of political and social issues.

Tourism minister launches VNY official website, social sites

Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai launched the official website and handles of various social media platforms – including including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin – of Visit Nepal Year 2020 (VNY 2020) today.
Though, the VNY Secretariat has been complaining of not getting enough budget for promotion of the campaign, the official website and other social networking sites of VNY have just been launched today after 9 months.
Visitors can get authentic and exclusive news and information from the sites, according to national program coordinator of VNY2020 Suraj Vaidya, who informed that the web portal and social media pages will release all the information relating to the tourism programmes including news, maps, pictures, festivals, and many more.

Twitter raises $1.82 billion in IPO

Twitter has priced its initial public offering (IPO) of shares at $26 per share, higher than the already increased range of $23-$25 per share.

With the offering of 70 million shares, it will give the company gross proceeds of $1.820 billion.

The underwriters have an option to sell another 10.5 million shares in the next 30 days. The shares will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange from today.

Twitter sets price range, to raise up to $1.4 billion in IPO

Twitter has released an indicative price range for its primary offering, setting the potential proceeds at up to $1.40 billion.

The company will sell 70 million shares for $ 17-20 per share, according to an amended prospectus. It says the IPO will start as soon as possible after the filing takes effect. The underwriters will have an option to sell another 10.5 million shares if demand is strong. 

The sale will see around 13.5 per cent of Twitter's shares listed on the stock market. Its management owns another quarter of shares, and other large shareholders include JP Morgan, Rizvi Traverse, Spark Capital and DST. 

Twitter files to raise $1 billion in IPO

Twitter as filed its general prospectus for an initial public offering of shares in the US.
While the company has yet to fix how many shares it will sell or a price for the new stock, the document provides details on the messaging company's financial results for the first time. Twitter recorded revenue of $254 million in the first six months of this year, up from $122.4 million a year earlier, while its net loss swelled to $69 million from $49 million. 

Twitter reported an average 218.3 million monthly users in the second quarter, up by 44 per cent from a year earlier. Almost a quarter (49.2 million) were in the US, up by 35 per cent year-on-year, while users in the rest of the world were growing faster, up by 47 per cent to 169.1 million. 

The company said a good measure of its ability to monetise the service is the amount of revenue generated from each user viewing a timeline on the site or apps. This rose to $0.80 in ad revenue per 1,000 views in the second quarter, an annual increase of 26 per cent. Around two-thirds of its ad revenue comes from mobile services. 

For the purposes of fixing a fee for the IPO filing, Twitter estimated it will raise $1 billion in the offering. It said it will use the proceeds to help fund general operating costs and an estimated $225 million -$275 million in capital expenditure this year. The listing also aims to create a public market for its stock and open up the public market for future fundraising. The company said it does not intend to start paying dividends.

Twitter files for IPO

Twitter has confirmed it will list on the stock market.

“We've confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO,” the company said on its official Twitter feed. “This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.” 

The company is using the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act to keep its SEC filings private. The law took effect last year and aims to encourage more companies to raise capital publicly. Companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenues can keep their securities filings confidential until three weeks before the launch of an investor roadshow. The timing of the announcement suggests Twitter could list before the end of 2013. 

On the day before the Initial Public Offering (IPO) was announced, Twitter shares were priced on the private market at $26 each for large blocks and $28 for small lots, giving the company a valuation of $13.7-14.4 billion, one investor, who owns Twitter stock..

The investor said it was ‘absolutely clear’ that Twitter had a working revenue model and potential investors would be able to see a point in the future where it would become profitable.

F1Soft International in Red Herring Top 100 Asia

A domestic software company – F1Soft International – has made it to the final 100 winners list of Red Herring's Top 100 Asia award for its innovative products and services in the Mobile Financial Service sector in Nepal.

Red Herring has announced its Top 100 award in recognition of the leading private technology companies of Asia, celebrating the innovations and technologies of these startups across their respective industries.

"Our products and services, which were considered new a few years back, are already successful and widely accepted in Nepal," said president of F1Soft International Biswas Dhakal, highlighting the current market presence and the evolution of its products and services in the award ceremony organised in Hong Kong on September 10-12, where some 200 finalists from across Asia, Australia and New Zealand also made their presentations out of which 100 were selected as winners.

"The award has recognised the fact that our success in Nepal is no small feat and our innovations are truly world class," said Dhakal, thanking his team for helping make it possible and the valued clients for trusting the company and using its products to create a winning combination for success.

F1Soft is the largest provider of transactional banking products and mobile financial services in the domestic market for many banks and financial institutions, including mobile banking, internet banking, remittance and eSewa.

"F1Soft has become the first and only company from Nepal to receive this prestigious award," the young entrepreneur added.

Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising new companies and entrepreneurs. Red Herring editors were among the first to recognise companies like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Salesforce.com, YouTube, and eBay, which have changed the way we live and work.

"Choosing companies with the strongest potential was by no means a small feat," said publisher and chief executive of Red Herring Alex Vieux.

"After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed down our list from hundreds of candidates from across Asia to the Top 100 winners," he said, adding that they believed F1Soft International embodies the vision, drive and innovation that define a successful entrepreneurial venture. "F1Soft should be proud of its accomplishment, as the competition was the strongest it has ever been."

Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria like financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration.

The assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the track record and standing of startups relative to their peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the 'buzz' and make the list a valuable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the most promising new business models in Asia.