As many as 26 social media platforms, including Meta’s Facbook, WhatsApp Instagram, and Elon Musk’s X, were banned in Nepal for not complying with new rules.
The Nepal government on Monday night lifted the ban it imposed on social media sites after violent protests by youngsters left at least 19 people dead and more than 300 injured.
Popular social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, X, and 23 other platforms were banned in Nepal for not registering with the authorities under the new regulations. Other apps include WhatsApp, Instagram, Reddit, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Signal.
Prithvi Subba Gurung, Nepal’s minister for communication, information and broadcasting, said the government withdrew its earlier decision to impose the ban after an emergency Cabinet meeting, adding that it was “addressing the demand of Gen-Z”.
Protesters were carrying placards with “Shut down corruption and not social media”, “Youths against corruption” slogans, opposing the move made by the government. The Nepalese government later announced a curfew across several parts of Kathmandu.
Protesters even tried to push through the barbed wires and enter a restricted area near the Parliament, prompting police to resort to tear gas, water cannon and batons.
The Communications and Information Technology ministry said that it repeatedly notified around two dozen social media networks, popularly used in Nepal, asking them to register their companies officially in the Himalayan nation.
However, those who failed to comply came under the country’s blanket ban.
Why was TikTok not banned?
TikTok, a ByteDance-owned Chinese application, stood out as the only major app that remained accessible in Nepal. This is because the company adhered to the directive and registered itself under the new rules in a timely manner, ensuring that it remained active despite the blanket ban.
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Earlier in 2023, Nepal banned TikTok for disrupting “social harmony” in the country. The government, at the time, had said that it was being banned to regulate the use of the social media platform “that was disrupting social harmony, goodwill and flow of indecent materials”.
The then-foreign minister Narayan Prakash Saud had said that the government had asked companies to register and open a liaison office in Nepal, pay taxes and abide by the country’s laws and regulations to ensure social media platforms’ accountability.
TikTok was facing criticism across the world over several concerns, including China’s alleged attempts to use the app to harvest data or further its interests in other countries.
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After nine months, in August 2024, the new government under Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli lifted the ban on TikTok, with the PM saying that all social media sites should be treated equally. Additionally, the company’s executives had also pledged to comply with Nepal’s laws, including a ban of pornographic sites that was passed in 2018.
Other than TikTok, only three other platforms registered and functioned across Nepal without any disruptions, The Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, the United Nations demanded a swift and transparent probe into the deadly violence that broke out in Nepal against the backdrop of the social media ban.
So far, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, and Elon Musk’s X have not responded to the ban and the prevailing situation in Nepal.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
