• PM Oli resigns, a P’ment building set alight along with houses of snr. Govt. leaders  
• SLWJA condemns move to cover up unstable/failed governance

Nepal’s Government lifted the ban on social media platforms yesterday (9), a day after violent street protests that left at least 19 people killed.

Some of the world’s largest platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube were blocked last week, followed by a massive protest rally in the capital city Kathmandu on Monday. Police in Kathmandu opened fire on demonstrators protesting a Government attempt to regulate social media.

The Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak also resigned late Monday at an emergency Cabinet of Ministers meeting called by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli.

Rallies swept the streets around the Parliament building, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of people angry at the authorities who said that the companies had failed to register and submit to Government oversight.

The gunfire unfolded as the Government pursues a broader attempt to regulate social media with a bill aimed at ensuring that the platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable”. The proposal has been widely criticised as a tool for censorship and for punishing Government opponents who voice their protests online.

About two dozen social networks that are widely used in Nepal were repeatedly given notices to register their companies officially in the Himalayan nation, the Government said. Those that failed to register have been blocked since last week.

The video-sharing app TikTok, Viber and three other platforms have registered and operated without interruption.

The Government imposed a curfew around the Parliament, the Government Secretariat, the Presidential House and key parts of the city and in two other cities of Nepal.

Seven of those killed and scores of the wounded were received at the country’s main hospital in the heart of Kathmandu, the National Trauma Centre.

“Many of them are in serious condition and appear to have been shot in the head and chest,” said Dr. Badri Risa. 

“Stop the ban on social media. Stop corruption, not social media,” the crowds outside the Parliament chanted, waving the red and blue national flags. Monday’s rally was called the protest of Gen Z, which generally refers to people born between 1995 and 2010.

The Government’s proposed bill includes asking the companies to appoint a liaison office or a point of contact in the country. Rights groups have called it an attempt by the Government to curb the freedom of expression and fundamental rights.

Meanwhile, Oli has resigned after violent anti-corruption protests. The news comes as demonstrators defied an indefinite curfew and clashed with the Police, a day after 19 people died in violent protests triggered by a social media ban. Oli’s Government lifted the ban after protests turned violent when the Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm the Parliament on Monday. 

“The Premier has quit,” Oli’s aide Prakash Silwal told Reuters. Minutes before Oli resigned from his office, Gen Z protesters broke into the Parliament and set fire to one of the buildings on the premises. Demonstrators also set fire to Oli’s residence in Bhaktapur’s Balkot area and the residences of other senior leaders amid the ongoing protests triggered by a since-revoked social media ban. Visuals showed thousands of protesters storming the Parliament as plumes of grey and black smoke arose in the area. Even as the building was on fire, thousands of protesters continued to march towards the Parliament, shouting slogans and raising flags in the area, the visuals showed. 

The demonstrators also entered the Singha Durbar premises, breaking into the area through its western gate. They also reportedly set the gate on fire while forcing their way into the central administrative complex of Nepal. The Gen Z protesters shouted slogans like ‘KP Chor, Desh Chhod’ and ‘Take Action Against Corrupt Leaders’ across the capital city of Kathmandu. The residence of Lekhak at Naikap was also torched just a day after he resigned from the post following the Police’s use of force on the young protesters agitating against the ban on 26 social media sites, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube.

The protests have so far left 19 people dead and more than 300 others injured.

Meanwhile, officials said that Oli resigned from the Prime Minister’s post amid mounting pressure in the anti-Government protests. His resignation came shortly after hundreds of demonstrators entered his office shouting anti-Government slogans. Additionally, the central office of the Nepali Congress in Sanepa was also vandalised yesterday.

Further, the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been fully closed following escalating demonstrations across the Kathmandu Valley. Continuous incidents of fires in areas including Gothatar, coupled with deteriorating aviation security conditions, prompted the closure, according to TIA sources. The Nepali Army has been deployed to provide security at the airport. Both domestic and international flights remain suspended until further notice. TIA General Manager Hansa Raj Pandey however asserted that the “Airport is not closed”.

The Government had claimed that the ban was needed to clamp down on fake news and hate speech and accused the companies of failing to register. Organisers say that the protests, which spread across the country, were not only about the moves against the social media platforms, but were also a reflection of generational frustration at poor economic opportunities and anger at widespread corruption. At least 17 people were killed in Kathmandu and two more in the eastern city of Itahari, according to hospital officials. 

Videos showed security forces deploying water cannons, tear gas and live ammunition to disperse protesters gathered outside Nepal’s Parliament building in Kathmandu. Oli said that his Government was “not negative toward the demands raised by the Gen Z generation” and said that he was “deeply saddened” by the incidents on Monday. In a statement, he blamed “infiltration by various vested interest groups” for the violence, without elaborating who the groups were. Perceptions of Government corruption are widespread in Nepal. Oli’s Government has been heavily criticised for failing to crack down on the problem.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that so far there have been no reports of any Sri Lankans being injured owing to the ongoing protests in Nepal. A spokesperson of the Ministry said that the Sri Lankan Embassy in Nepal is actively seeking information about Sri Lankans in the country and their whereabouts. 

A majority of the Sri Lankans in Nepal are on student visas, the spokesperson added. Widespread protests led by youths under the banner of ‘Gen Z’ broke out in Nepal as the Oli-led Government banned WhatsApp, Facebook, X, YouTube and 22 other social media sites in the country. As the protests grew violent, resulting in the deaths of 19 people, the Government, late on Monday, revoked the ban. However, anti-Government protests continued over the lives lost in the agitation across the country. Authorities already reportedly imposed curfew in the key areas of the capital after the deaths in Monday’s protest.

Elsewhere, the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), in a statement issued in this regard, opined that what is happening in Nepal is an operation to cover up unstable and failed governance. 

“The Nepalese Government has intervened to control social media, which has become a challenge to their current regime, citing the false objective of safeguarding civil rights. The State’s suppression of social media has resulted in severe consequences for society. A wave of violent incidents has already begun to unfold in Nepal. This should serve as a serious warning of where such measures can lead. We condemn the Nepali Government that attempts to subjugate, suppress, or ban both social and traditional media to consolidate their control. We urge the Government to refrain from infringing on the freedom of speech and expression, which is a fundamental human right. Instead, they must foster an environment where journalists can work freely and independently while taking accountability for their own governance-related failures,” SLWJA noted.

Nepal, in 2023, banned TikTok for disrupting “social harmony, goodwill and diffusing indecent materials”. The ban was lifted last year (2024) after TikTok’s executives pledged to comply with local laws, including a ban on pornographic sites that was passed in 2018.

(Associated Press and Sky News)