Nepal Bans Everest Climbers from Taking Photos Without Consent

Nepal has put restrcitions on taking and circulating photos and videos of members of other teams while climbing Mt Everest.

As per the notice issued by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal, climbers can take photos/videos and share them as long as they are of themselves and members of their own team.

Climbers cannot take pictures of others and members of other expedition teams without the permission of the department.

This comes after that picture of a traffic jam on Mt. Everest went viral on social media platforms and received a lot of criticism from international media about the way the Himalayan ecosystem is being affected by the huge numbers of expeditions.

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After the picture of traffic jam went viral, some International media have also criticised the improper management of expeditions. Following this, other mountaineers also circulated pictures of climbers on social media. Then there are all those images of piles of garbage on Mt Everest.

The new guidelines also state that only those who are mentally and physically fit would be allowed to climb the mountain as emergency rescue operations had to be mounted earlier when many of the climbers got stuck.

Speaking on the issue of banning people from clicking photos of others, Mira Acharya, an official at Nepal&rsquos Tourism Department, said to the media that &ldquosuch activities have given negative publicity about the Everest so we decide to put a ban on taking pictures, movie and filming in the Everest by others to stop these kinds of negative publicity, we have come up with the new guideline that includes other mountains in the country as well. We honour the personal freedom of climbers but that does not mean they can post images and videos of others without their consent. Either through commercial cameras or mobile sets, all such activities have been banned.&ldquo

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