Nepal lifts social media ban after deadly protests

Nepal has lifted a ban on social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube after protests that led to 19 people being killed.

Dozens more were injured during the demonstrations on Monday, which were pinned on Gen Z – broadly referring to anyone born between 1995 and 2010.

The rallies were also against alleged government corruption, with large crowds heard chanting: “Stop the ban on social media, stop corruption not social media.”

Nepal’s technology minister announced an end to the social media ban, imposed last week, early on Tuesday.

“We have withdrawn the shutdown of the social media. They are working now,” Prithvi Subba Gurung told Reuters.

The government’s justification for the shutdown was that social media companies had failed to adhere to repeated demands to register their companies officially in Nepal.

TikTok, which has been blocked in the past, and Viber were two of five platforms that remained online as they have been registered.

Ahead of the protests, the government had sent a bill for debate in parliament to ensure social media networks are “properly managed, responsible and accountable”.

The government claims social media users create fake IDs to spread hate speech and fake news, but the bill has been widely criticised as a tool for censorship and punishing government opponents who voice their protests online.

The worst of Monday’s violence came in the capital, Kathmandu, where protesters pushed through fencing and forced riot police to retreat as they surrounded the parliament building.

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Police were said to have shot at protesters trying to storm the building.

Officers also fired tear gas and used water cannon, but were outnumbered and sought safety inside the parliamentary complex, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Officials said 17 people had died in Kathmandu, where a curfew was imposed, while another two people were killed in the eastern city of Itahari.