Police in Nepal’s capital metropolis of Kathmandu opened fireplace Monday on protesters demonstrating in opposition to a authorities ban on social media platforms, killing no less than 14 and wounding dozens extra, in accordance with state TV.
The wounded had been being handled at half of a dozen hospitals in Kathmandu.
Nepal’s Armed Police Drive (APF) personnel stand guard throughout a protest outdoors the Parliament in Kathmandu, Sept. 8, 2025, in opposition to social media prohibitions and suspected authorities corruption.
PRABIN RANABHAT/AFP/Getty
Tens of hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Nepal‘s capital Monday to vent their anger in opposition to a call by authorities to dam most social media platforms, together with Fb, X and YouTube. Authorities have accused the platforms of failing to register and undergo authorities oversight.
Protesters pushed by means of barbed wire and compelled riot police to retreat as they surrounded the Nepalese Parliament constructing. Police fired tear gasoline and water cannon however had been outnumbered and sought security contained in the parliament advanced. Police ultimately opened fireplace on the protesters.
The state of affairs remained tense and the federal government introduced a curfew for Monday across the parliament, together with the federal government secretariat, presidential home and different key elements of the town.
“Stop the ban on social media, stop corruption not social media,” the crowds chanted, waving the purple and blue nationwide flag. Monday’s rally was dubbed a protest by “Gen Z,” typically referring to folks born between 1995 and 2010.
About two dozen social community platforms which can be extensively utilized in Nepal had been repeatedly given notices to register their firms formally within the nation, the federal government stated. Those who failed to take action have been blocked since final week.
TikTok, Viber and three different platforms have registered and continued to function with out interruption.
The transfer by the authorities got here as the federal government despatched a invoice for a debate in parliament that seeks to make sure that social platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable.” It consists of asking the businesses to nominate a liaison workplace or level individual within the nation.
The invoice has been extensively criticized as a instrument for censorship and punishing authorities opponents who voice their opposition on-line. Rights teams have referred to as it an try by the federal government to curb freedom of expression and violate basic rights.
Nepal in 2023 banned the Chinese language-owned video-sharing app TikTok, accusing it of disrupting “social harmony, goodwill and diffusing indecent materials.”
That ban was lifted final yr after TikTok’s executives pledged to adjust to native legal guidelines, which features a ban on pornographic websites that was handed in 2018.
Extra from CBS Information
