Nepal bans Facebook, X, YouTube and 23 more social platforms nationwide

Nepal has ordered a nationwide block on Facebook, X, YouTube, and 23 additional social platforms, citing misinformation, hate speech, and threats to public order. Regulators instructed ISPs to disable access immediately, with enforcement details still emerging. The move disrupts news distribution, SME marketing, creator income, and diaspora communication, while raising free-expression and investment concerns. Watch for implementation variance, legal challenges, carve-outs for essential services, and how businesses pivot to SMS, email, and domestic platforms locally.

Officials say platforms failed to follow Nepal’s registration rules, while critics argue the move is meant to stifle dissent and tighten control over online expression. On September 4, 2025, the K.P. Sharma Oli administration approved a nationwide block on 26 social networks, including Facebook, X (the platform once known as Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube after they missed the deadline to register.

In a public notice, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said it had instructed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to disable access to any social site that has not registered, and to keep it offline until compliance. Following multiple reminders, the government set another seven-day registration window on August 28. That grace period ended late Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, ministry spokesperson Gajendra Thakur said officials still hoped the companies would reach out before midnight and warned that action would follow if they did not.

Because no platform engaged before the cutoff, a Thursday meeting at the Ministry resolved to proceed with the shutdown. Civil-liberties groups denounced the decision, claiming it prioritizes muzzling dissent over legitimate regulation. They argue that the registration framework, laden with far-reaching monitoring and control provisions was seen by many firms as intrusive and impractical, prompting noncompliance. Critics called the ban a mistake.

Ujjwal Acharya, who leads the Center for Media Research, said the step undermines Nepal’s democratic standing. He argued that leaders acted without assessing how ordinary people would be affected and warned the move could tarnish Nepal’s reputation for years and shape global perceptions negatively. Acharya added that the state’s proposed oversight mechanisms are excessively invasive. 

Nepal has restricted social platforms before. In November 2023, the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government blocked TikTok amid a storm of criticism; access was restored in August 2024 after the company agreed to register locally. Since taking office roughly 14 months ago, the Oli government has been accused of growing hostility toward online critics. A drive earlier this year to pass a stringent social-media law also sparked strong pushback, with experts cautioning that “regulation” was being used as a pretext for sweeping control over internet activity.

In this latest dispute, officials had already asked platforms to register on four separate occasions with similar deadlines, though those notices came only from the Ministry. This round, the order to register carried the weight of a Cabinet resolution. As the announcement spread, users blasted the ban as reckless and counterproductive, with many posting what they feared could be final messages before services went dark. Acharya said authorities misread the moment if the aim was to quiet dissent.

He noted that social media is no longer used solely for political debate; for most people it underpins daily routines and commerce, offering a simple, low-cost, and effective way to communicate. In his view, the ban is plainly wrong.

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Source: thehindu‍