Event Summary
On 4 September 2025, the Government of Nepal ordered the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to block 26 unregistered social media platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Instagram. The decision followed repeated deadlines under the 2023 Social Media Operation Directive, which requires platforms to register locally, appoint liaison officers, and designate grievance handlers. While TikTok and Viber complied earlier, most global platforms refused, triggering the suspension order.
Officials justified the ban as a measure to enhance accountability and curb online harms, with the Supreme Court having upheld the state’s authority to regulate digital platforms. However, critics warn that the move undermines freedom of expression, access to information, and economic activity. Civil society actors argue that the ban is part of a broader trend of shrinking civic space. On 30 August and 3 September, CSO leaders, lawyers, and journalists already raised alarm over a draft NGO law that would consolidate and tighten control over civil society operations, which was already flagged in an earlier alert.
Importantly, the government lifted the ban on 9 September after large-scale, youth-led “Gen Z” protests drew significant national attention and public pressure. This reversal highlights both the vulnerability of state measures to civic mobilization and the growing role of youth movements in shaping Nepal’s digital rights landscape, even amid systemic pressures on civic space.
The crackdown is systemic at the national level: it has disproportionately affected youth, digital rights defenders, journalists, and small businesses dependent on online platforms, while also reshaping the enabling environment for all CSOs. Civil society coalitions caution that advocacy must proceed carefully, as smaller organizations and individual activists risk reprisals if directly named. Still, parliamentary debates on the NGO Bill and Social Media Bill, potential strategic litigation by civil society lawyers, and difficult but necessary policy dialogue with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology represent possible entry points to press for rights-compliant alternatives.
Taken together, the dual crackdown on online platforms and CSOs signals a severe deterioration of Nepal’s enabling environment—threatening fundamental freedoms, weakening accountability, and institutionalizing state control over both digital and civic space.