Tygedeo News

Previously, the Nepalese government restricted the use of 26 platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and WeChat, as well as YouTube and LinkedIn.

Nepal has lifted a ban on social media that was in place for less than a day after mass anti-corruption protests that erupted over the ban left 19 people dead. This was announced on September 9 by a government official, adding that a curfew was also imposed in Kathmandu (the capital), Reuters reports.

According to government spokesman and Minister of Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, the decision to lift the ban imposed last week has officially come into effect.

Earlier, the Nepalese government restricted the use of 26 platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and WeChat, as well as YouTube and LinkedIn. The ban came into effect on September 4.

The bill has been widely criticized as a tool for censorship and punishment of government opponents who express their protests online. Rights groups have called it an attempt by the government to restrict freedom of speech and violate fundamental rights.

Residents of Kathmandu, Pokhara and other cities in Nepal took to the streets on September 8 to protest corruption and the government’s decision to block more than 20 social media platforms and services, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

In Kathmandu, protesters broke through the barbed wire around the parliament building and forced police to retreat inside the parliament complex. Police later opened fire on protesters, killing 19 people and injuring 145.

The rally was dubbed the Generation Z protest, which typically targets people born between 1995 and 2010.

As you know, in 2023, Nepal banned the video-sharing app TikTok for violating “social harmony, goodwill and the dissemination of obscene materials.” The ban was lifted last year after TikTok’s management promised to comply with local laws.

Recall that about 12 hours after TikTok stopped working in the US, the app returned for many users.

It was also reported that a criminal investigation has been launched in France into the social network X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk. The investigation concerns suspicions of manipulation of X’s algorithms and illegal collection of user data.