Lessons from Kathmandu

Protests in Nepal led by young people toppled a government, after it blocked access to major social media platforms. What can we learn about Internet service shutdowns and what does Gen Z really want?

ICYMI, just about two weeks ago, Nepal’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology ordered the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) to block access to all social media platforms — including Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Alphabet (YouTube), X, Reddit, and LinkedIn — for their failure to comply with the registration process mandated under the Directives for Managing the Use of Social Networks, 2023. The action was “legal,” in the sense that the country’s Supreme Court issued a directive order, instructing the government to ensure all online platforms are “officially listed” in order to operate in Nepal, so that the government can monitor contents on them, and order undesired contents to be removed. Notably, Chinese platform TikTok was not affected, because it has already complied and registered with the Nepali authorities.

Nepal is not unique in having laws to require social media platforms to register locally, often demanding the companies to name a local representative that will be liable, if in future the platforms do not follow certain government orders on content removal or user data requests. Most notably, India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 kind of started this trend. It should be noted, though, that those platforms that defied the Nepali law in 2025 in fact mostly have since succumbed to largely complying with the Indian law. Being a big economy makes a difference.

Photo from Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Nepal’s Internet service shutdown is not unique

Other countries have followed India. Nigeria is a notable example, with its Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries, since 2022. But that is not a law, but a “regulatory framework.” Clearly, Nigeria is no India. Major social platforms pretty much ignored the code of practice. The Nigerian government did not push further. Life goes on.

What happened in Nepal in the last two weeks should give the Nigerian authorities the chills. Lucky for them they didn’t push harder.

Instead, in Nepal, the governments had been pushing for more control on the Internet for speech that it deemed to be “against national sovereignty or interest,” in another Social Media Bill that was still pending legislative approval, drawing criticism from civil society, activists and journalists, domestic and abroad.

Such “service shutdowns” — as opposed to regional or national Internet shutdowns which suspend Internet access completely — is not uncommon. Even just within this year, 2025, the Democratic Republic of the Congo blocked X and TikTok for 9 days in February, and Togo is still blocking Facebook, Signal, Telegram, YouTube and DuckDuckGo since June. Both were supposed to be in force because of domestic political unrest.

Censorship turned deadly

Back to Nepal. Shortly after the social media ban was enforced, protests broke out all over the small country, with casualties running up to 72 people killed as of now, including 60 protesters, 3 police officers and 9 prisoners, with thousands of people injured. It should be noted that during the unrest, about 13,500 prisoners escaped, with 12,533 still at large, based on a report on September 12. More than 100 guns were also looted from the army, with some protesters even seen brandishing automatic rifles.

As the Chinese saying goes, “A single spark can start a prairie fire.” The spark might have been the social media ban. The protests may have been attributed mainly to the young people, with international media generalizing them as “Gen Z,” those born between 1997 to 2012. But the Internet service ban did not only affect the young, as Nepal’s tourism and small businesses also depend on it as well as for families to communicate with the 7.5% of the 29 million population living and working abroad as migrant workers as well as skilled labor.

But it was also as much about poor governance in the country, and corruption. In the weeks leading up to the ban, social media in Nepal were simmering with accusations of corruption by senior government officials, and a campaign calling for the public shaming of influential children of the country’s rich and powerful. Users were borrowing the #NepoBaby hashtag from Indonesia, where protests are also ongoing against government misuse of funds and corruption by officials.

The collapse of the Nepali government

Five days into the online service shutdown, Nepal’s Minister for Communication, Information and Broadcasting announced that the government would withdraw its social media ban. Meanwhile, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli still lamented that social media platforms, such as X, was disrespectful of Nepal’s national sovereignty, for disregarding the government order to register itself in the country. He still failed to understand that was not what the people cared about.

On September 9, a day after the government imposed a curfew on the capital, Kathmandu, protestors stormed the parliament building, and set the residences of senior government officials and politicians on fire, including PM Oli’s home. Other buildings such as the Supreme Court, and offices of the PM and several ministries were also burnt. On this fateful day, Oli resigned.

What happened afterward among the Nepali people, especially the protesters, was nothing short of remarkable. Organized by Hami Nepal, a Gen Z group said to be more than 160,000 members strong, and actively behind the protests, debates and polling were carried out on Discord, a free communications platform mostly used by gamers, and they selected former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki, long respected for her anti-corruption stance, to be the interim prime minister. A user even claimed, “The Parliament of Nepal right now is Discord,” while others lauded this movement “most egalitarian” in exercising the people’s rights to select a leader.

Screenshots from Discord debates in Nepal

So, what lessons can be learned?

1. Internet shutdowns can trigger a revolution — Over the years, Internet shutdowns have become the tactic of choice by many governments in the world, whether it be due to political unrest, pending elections, or even something as mundane as public exams for students. The Nepali episode should serve as a reminder for governments around the world to only try such online shutdown at their own risks. Sometimes, all that does is to add fuel to the fire.

2. The young and the restless — Young people are facing an uncertain future under tremendous pressure from unemployment, inequality, and hopelessness, in a world fraught with geopolitical conflicts, trade conflicts, and economic stagnation. Social media has become their outlet, for better or worse, and yes, there are a lot to complain about with these platforms and what they are doing to young people in order to profit themselves. But for any government to simply shut them down — as many Global Majority countries tend to do — is not a good option.

3. From Belt & Road to Sleaze & Graft — Nepal has been a follower of China’s Belt & Road Initiative, but years into the implementation of many of these projects, nothing was completed but trails of alleged corruption were left behind, exemplified by the Pokhara International Airport project, tattering the government with poor materials and construction and debts to China. PM Oli’s government also broke tradition in the country by pivoting toward China and away from India, stoking further domestic discontent.

But, worryingly, Nepal’s current turmoils are not yet over, in spite of the installation of interim PM Sushila, and a promised election to take place in early March, 2026. Protests led by the Hami Nepal group broke out again on Sunday night (September 14), this time against the interim PM for her appointment of three key ministers without reportedly consulting Hami Nepal. Chants such as “Don’t play politics with the dead,” and “PM should resign” were shouted, with Hami Nepal’s leader saying, “If our demands are not met, this government will also be toppled.”

One of the classic scenario for a popular uprising to fail is when its leaders do not know when to take what has been achieved, and step down to restore peace and calmness for all. Movements can become marred by power struggles and insatiable demands, creating a continuous power vacuum, instead of a more stable environment for making further achievable reforms. Focus should be put on dialogue for all, and the big picture of putting in place a sustainable system that empowers everyone.

Let’s wish the people of Nepal can do that, Gen Z or not.