Why Nepal banned social media? All about the move that sparked GenZ revolution

Tens of thousands of young Nepalis poured onto the streets on Monday in what is being seen as a Gen Z revolution over the social media ban imposed by the government last week. The country on Thursday banned major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, alleging that they failed to register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

The ban drew Gen Z's wrath and thousands gathered at multiple locations in the state with young protesters attempting to enter the Parliament building in Kathmandu. What began as anger over blocked apps has snowballed into Nepal’s largest youth-led protest in years, with demonstrators storming towards Parliament, defying police barricades, and clashing with security forces.

By Monday noon, at least one young protester had been killed, 80 others injured, and the army was deployed as the government scrambled to contain the digital-age revolt. A curfew has been imposed in the capital till 10 pm today and the government has called an emergency security meeting to assess the situation. Given the scale of protest, authorities have deployed the Nepali Army.

WHICH SITES ARE BANNED?

Several social media users reported receiving error messages such as “Hmm... something went wrong.” “This site can’t be reached,” and “Safari can’t connect to the server” when trying to log in through browsers, sparking frustration.

All other major social media and communication platforms, including Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Reddit, Discord, Pinterest, Signal, Threads, WeChat, Quora, Tumblr, Clubhouse, Rumble, Mi Video, Mi Vike, Line, Imo, Jalo, Sol, and Hamro Patro, will be blocked until they complete the registration process.

WHY NEPAL BANNED SOCIAL MEDIA

According to ministry officials, all unregistered platforms will be restricted with immediate effect. The ministry had set a seven-day deadline from August 28 for companies to complete registration. When the deadline expired on Wednesday night, no global platforms, including Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Alphabet (YouTube), X (formerly Twitter), Reddit or LinkedIn, had submitted applications.

TikTok, Viber, Witk, Nimbuzz and Popo Live were listed as registered. Telegram and Global Diary are still in the approval process, officials said.

The ministry has directed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to disable unregistered platforms from Thursday midnight. Spokesperson Gajendra Kumar Thakur said any platform completing registration would be restored the same day.

The ban is expected to disrupt communication for millions of Nepalese living abroad. “More than seven million youth are staying outside Nepal for higher studies or employment. This will directly affect their communication with family and friends at home,” said senior journalist Pralhad Rijal.

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