Nepal’s Gen Z Ain’t Having It: Social Media Ban Blows Up in Kathmandu
Published: 2025 | By: QuickBuzzNews
Wow,
talk about poking the beehive. The Nepali government thought it could
just pull the plug on 26 social media apps—yeah, all the big ones:
Facebook, Insta, YouTube, X (RIP Twitter)—and folks would just shrug it
off? Not a chance. Instead, Kathmandu and a bunch of other cities turned
into protest central. The official excuse? Something about stopping
online scams and making sure platforms register under some shiny new
law. But, honestly, nobody’s buying it.
So, what actually set this off?
Well,
on September 4, the government basically said, “Hey, if you’re not
registered, you’re out.” TikTok and Viber played nice and jumped through
the hoops, but the rest got smacked with the banhammer. And guess who
relies on those apps for, like, everything? Yup—young Nepalis. Whether
it’s school, chatting, or trying to stir up some actual change, social
media is their lifeline.
Gen Z Takes the Streets
Fast-forward
to September 8—thousands of students and twenty-somethings are flooding
Kathmandu with flags, signs, and some seriously catchy chants (“Stop
corruption, not social media!”—kind of iconic, no?). This wasn’t just a
Kathmandu thing, either. The vibe spread to Pokhara, Itahari, Nepalgunj…
basically everywhere you’d expect young people to be mad and online.
And
then, of course, things got ugly. Cops came armed with tear gas, water
cannons, and rubber bullets. Barricades went up around Parliament and
Singha Durbar. News is saying at least 10, maybe 14 people died, and
over 100 are hurt. Curfew’s in, army’s out. Yikes.
The Official Line
Prime
Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is out here defending the ban, calling it a
“national security” thing. He’s also tossing blame at so-called
“anti-government forces.” Meanwhile, the government’s in full panic
mode, holding emergency meetings while international orgs keep telling
everyone to chill and maybe, you know, talk things out.
The World’s Watching
Human
rights groups and internet freedom nerds are slamming Nepal for this
move, comparing it to some of the worst digital crackdowns out there. A
lot of people are saying this could be the moment Nepal’s youth finally
force some real political change—or, I dunno, maybe the whole thing just
spirals.
So, what now?
Tensions are sky-high, and nobody
really knows if this is gonna end in reforms or just more chaos. One
thing’s for sure: Nepal’s Gen Z isn’t backing down. This feels like a
make-or-break moment for digital freedom—and the government’s control
freak tendencies might’ve finally met their match.
Stay tuned with QuickBuzzNews for real-time updates on Nepal’s Gen Z protests.