KATHMANDU: Press Council Nepal has taken action against 27 media outlets on the first day of the silence period of the local level election.

The council has directed the media outlets that have disseminated material contrary to the election code of conduct to apologize for what they have done.

Of the action taken, 17 mainstream media outlets have immediately rectified the disseminated material with an apology.

Similarly, within 24 hours of the silence period, the council drew the attention of 25 journalists to the content posted on social media.

According to Ram Sharan Bohara, Deputy Administrative Officer and Information Officer of the Council, 20 of the journalists who were alerted by phone were immediately removed from the post.

According to Bohara, five journalists have not commented. It has been directed to remove the letter from 13 online media outlets, five magazines, four televisions, and three radios from Tuesday night to Wednesday evening as it is against the election code of conduct.

Meanwhile, the council has written to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTAA) to make arrangements for 10 news portals not to operate within Nepal during the silence period.

Bohara said that such action was taken against unregistered web portals that disseminated material contrary to the Code of Conduct for Journalists and Election Code of Conduct.

The council, which has been monitoring media content and journalist posts since the election code of conduct came into force, has stepped up its 24-hour monitoring period during the silence period.

Information Officer Bohara said that the last 72 hours of the election would be very sensitive and urged the media and journalists not to disseminate material contrary to the code of conduct.