September 9, 2025 • 12 mins
Nepal’s Government has lifted a controversial social media ban after deadly protests swept through the country, killing 19 people.
Thousands of young demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Kathmandu, demanding an end to government corruption and the reversal of restrictions on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms.
The protests have been dubbed the "Gen Z uprising" and represent some of the worst unrest Nepal has seen in decades. In today’s deep dive, we’ll take you through everything you need to know about this social media ban, the protests against it, and the government’s response.
Host: Emma Gillespie and Sam Koslowski
Producer: Orla Maher
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Already. And this is the Daily This is the Daily OS.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Oh, now it makes sense. Good morning, and welcome to
the Daily OS. It's Wednesday, the tenth of September. I'm
Emma Gillespie.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm Sam Kazlowski.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Nepal's government has lifted a controversial social media ban after
deadly protests swept through the country, killing nineteen people. Thousands
of young demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Katmandu,
demanding an end to government corruption and the reversal of
restrictions on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and other platforms. The
(00:43):
protests have been dubbed as the country's gen Z Uprising
and represent some of the worst unrest Nepal has seen
in decades. In today's deep dive, we will take you
through everything you need to know about this social media
ban and the protests it inspired, as well as the
government response and backflip. But first a quick message from
(01:03):
today's sponsor.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So, and this is a story that has developed quite
quickly over the past few days. I find it really
helpful when we do stories such as this one to
really get a bit of a snapshot into the political
dynamics on the ground in Nepal. Nepal is not a
country that comes up in the news cycle a lot.
Give me a sense of what sparked these protests in
(01:30):
the first place.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, so this all relates to a decision by the
Nepalese government to ban twenty six major social media platforms.
Officials essentially had put out a notice for social media
platforms to register with its Ministry of Communication. A deadline
was set back in August, and essentially the government was
(01:51):
arguing that it would set up this infrastructure, these channels
to handle hate speech and fake news and crack down
on online misinformation and disinformation right as well as fraud.
But critics had suggested that this was more about an
attempt at censorship, a way to control free speech. So
there was that deadline that I mentioned, and on Thursday
(02:14):
last week, the government announced that it would be blocking
social media platforms that failed to register by that deadline. Now,
this included pretty much every platform you can think of, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,
even WhatsApp, x, LinkedIn, and Reddit. So a really far stretching.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Ban, so it doesn't isolate a particular company like we've
seen in other regulatory efforts. This was a ban on
pretty much any social media platform you could think of.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, exactly. I think it's surprising to see the likes
of LinkedIn included in these sorts of vans. But it
is important to note, in terms of you know your question, Sam,
about a snapshot of Nepal. About half of Nepal's thirty
million people have Internet access, and more than seventy percent
of the country's Internet traffic comes through social media platforms. Now,
(03:04):
those who have opposed the ban, including these protesters, have
described these platforms as really critical communications channels for many
Nepalese families.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Talk me through that. So that we're talking here about
more of a demographic argument, then.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, exactly. So I did not know this before, but
was fascinated to learn that about eight percent of Nepal's
population that's over two million people live abroad, mostly as
migrant workers. Now, many families in Nepal rely entirely on
platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to stay in touch
with their relatives who work overseas. So when the government
(03:40):
suddenly blocked these platforms, it cut off communications for millions.
But there's also a really crucial economic stability angle to
all of this as well. According to World Bank data,
the money that these international workers send home to their
families in Nepal, what's known as personal remittances, that actually
accounts for over thirty three percent of Nepal's GDP. It's
(04:02):
the highest that figure has ever been. So there's a
really critical economic link between Nepalese families in the country
and their relatives abroad, you know, financially and from a
connection communications perspective.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Which in some ways is universal. I mean in countries,
both emerging economies and established economies, social media and instant
messaging is used for many economic reasons as well as
keeping in touch with families. And so then this led
to the protests that broke out on Monday. Were the
protest organizers and those who attended the protests were they
(04:39):
driven just by this social media ban or was this
kind of the tip of the iceberg for this group?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, exactly. This isn't just about social media access. This
ban has really become a catalyst for protests that follow
much deeper seated issues. So we're talking about allegation of
widespread government corruption, what protesters have described as a lack
of economic opportunities for young people that ties into the
(05:09):
idea that you know, millions of Nepalese people are leaving
the country to find work, and Nepal has seen frequent
changes in government since its monarchy was abolished in two
thousand and eight, so it's really faced a period of
political instability pretty much ever since independence was achieved. I
mentioned corruption. One protester told local media that videos had
(05:31):
emerged on TikTok showing kids of Nepalese politicians living lives
of luxury in a country where the per capita income
is just over two thousand dollars dollars per year.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So there's some pretty deep seated and historic anger that's
coming through in these protests. Social media get switched off
and then these protests emerge quite quickly. What happened at
the protests themselves.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So the demonstration started at nine am local time on
Monday in central katman Do, and thousands of young people
had mobilized gathered at that time, many of them students
in school uniforms or wearing their university logo and merchandise,
and there were holding signs that read things like shut
(06:16):
down corruption not social Media, unbanned social Media, Youth against Corruption.
The protest was organized by this group called Hami Nepal,
which means We Nepal in English, and they'd actually received
official permission to hold this rally, so it wasn't a
surprise that demonstrators had turned out. But as the day
went on, things really escalated.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Well, what you're talking about there is the violence that
we've seen at the rallies. Was there a moment where
things did turn violent.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yes, So the protest moved towards the Nepalese Parliament and
that's where some demonstrators kind of broke through police barricades
they entered this restricted zone. There was vision circulating showing
groups of young people climbing the walls trying to enter
parliamentary building. And it was really at that point that
authorities reacted with quite strong force. A curfew was imposed
(07:08):
in parts of the city and police used water cannons,
tear gas, rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowds,
but then, really distressingly and according to multiple reports and
eyewitness accounts, police began to fire live rounds of ammunition
at the demonstrators. By the end of the day, hundreds
of people were injured and at least nineteen people were dead.
(07:31):
Seventeen in Katmandu and two in the eastern city of Iahari.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Talk me through the international response to this. Then live
rounds on protesters escalates protests no matter where they are
in the world to attract international attention. What's the reaction been.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So, the UN Human Rights Office said it was shocked
by the killings and injury of protesters. It has urged
what it called, quote, a prompt and transparent investigation, and
the UN said it's received several deeply worrying allegations of
unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by security forces during
the protests. So the UN has called on Nepalese authorities
(08:10):
to quote respect and ensure the rights of peaceful assembly
and freedom of expression. Then we had Amnesty International release
of statement which said it strongly condemns the unlawful use
of lethal and less lethal force by law enforcement in Nepal.
It said the government must genuinely listen to the legitimate
demands of the youth to end corruption, deliver accountability, and
(08:32):
ensure civil liberties instead of melting out such reckless violence
against them.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Well, let's talk about that government response. Then there were
clear calls on the government. Have they responded to both
the social media band and the protests themselves since Monday. Yes.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So, in the initial aftermath of these deadly protests. On
Monday night, as the death hole was rising, as this
story began to make global headlines, the country's Prime Minister KP.
Sharma Olli called an emergency cabinet meeting. Then we had
a statement in which the PM said he was deeply
saddened by what had happened, but ultimately he blamed what
(09:09):
he called quote infiltration by various vested interest groups for
the violence. He didn't specify who these groups were, but
he also said his government was quote not negative towards
the demands raised by the GenZ protesters. Initially, there was
resistance within the government to lifting the social media ban.
We had some MPs saying that they were doubling down,
(09:31):
that they were not going to wind it back just
because of this unrest. Some reports suggested the Prime Minister
himself was strongly opposed to reversing the decision, But ultimately
it was reversed.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
And that all happened yesterday. Yeah, so the ban is
now no longer in place.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Exactly so, less than twenty four hours after the deadly protests.
The Communications and Information Technology Minister announced that the ban
had indeed been lifted, telling Reuter's quote, we have withdrawn
them shut down of the social media. They are working now,
So all platforms back online.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Okay. So, and where does this all leave Nepal now
and the gen Z protesters as they've been described in
international media. Where do things go for the country?
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, So, the government has announced a high level probe
committee to investigate the incident that will have to submit
a report within two weeks to kind of give its
assessment on what happened, what led to the deaths, analyzing
the use of force during demonstrations, right, and the government
has also promised compensation for the families of those killed,
(10:36):
as well as free medical treatment for the injured. And
it is worth noting that the bill cited as the
basis for the social media ban, it hasn't actually passed
parliament yet. Oh well, so I'm sure there'll be more protests,
more demonstration, more action as we wait to see the
fate of that piece of legislation unfold. You know, these
issues remain largely unaddressed, and I think it's been particularly
(10:59):
fascinated to see the voice of young people of gen
Z protesters elevated on the world stage, and this kind
of activism really can be a wake up call. So
I'm sure this is not the last we will be
hearing about.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
This one I mentioned before, but I think it's just
so interesting that the international coverage of these protests really
is leaning into this phrase of the gen Z protests.
And it's not the first time in the world that
we've seen this age group do widespread protests and demonstrations.
It's the first time I can remember that there's a
really strong link between those protesting and the generation that
(11:35):
they represent. Exactly fascinating, really interesting. Thank you so much
for taking us through that, m and thank you for
joining us on the Daily Os today. We're going to
be back in the afternoon with your headlines, but until then,
have a wonderful Wednesday. We'll ch out to you later.
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda
Bunjelung Kalkuttin woman from Gadigal Country. The Daily Os acknowledge
(12:00):
that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Gadigal people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torrestrate
Island and nations. We pay our respects to the first
peoples of these countries, both past and present.
Already. And this is the Daily This is the Daily OS.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Oh, now it makes sense. Good morning, and welcome to
the Daily OS. It's Wednesday, the tenth of September. I'm
Emma Gillespie.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm Sam Kazlowski.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Nepal's government has lifted a controversial social media ban after
deadly protests swept through the country, killing nineteen people. Thousands
of young demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Katmandu,
demanding an end to government corruption and the reversal of
restrictions on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and other platforms. The
(00:43):
protests have been dubbed as the country's gen Z Uprising
and represent some of the worst unrest Nepal has seen
in decades. In today's deep dive, we will take you
through everything you need to know about this social media
ban and the protests it inspired, as well as the
government response and backflip. But first a quick message from
(01:03):
today's sponsor.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So, and this is a story that has developed quite
quickly over the past few days. I find it really
helpful when we do stories such as this one to
really get a bit of a snapshot into the political
dynamics on the ground in Nepal. Nepal is not a
country that comes up in the news cycle a lot.
Give me a sense of what sparked these protests in
(01:30):
the first place.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, so this all relates to a decision by the
Nepalese government to ban twenty six major social media platforms.
Officials essentially had put out a notice for social media
platforms to register with its Ministry of Communication. A deadline
was set back in August, and essentially the government was
(01:51):
arguing that it would set up this infrastructure, these channels
to handle hate speech and fake news and crack down
on online misinformation and disinformation right as well as fraud.
But critics had suggested that this was more about an
attempt at censorship, a way to control free speech. So
there was that deadline that I mentioned, and on Thursday
(02:14):
last week, the government announced that it would be blocking
social media platforms that failed to register by that deadline. Now,
this included pretty much every platform you can think of, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,
even WhatsApp, x, LinkedIn, and Reddit. So a really far stretching.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Ban, so it doesn't isolate a particular company like we've
seen in other regulatory efforts. This was a ban on
pretty much any social media platform you could think of.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, exactly. I think it's surprising to see the likes
of LinkedIn included in these sorts of vans. But it
is important to note, in terms of you know your question, Sam,
about a snapshot of Nepal. About half of Nepal's thirty
million people have Internet access, and more than seventy percent
of the country's Internet traffic comes through social media platforms. Now,
(03:04):
those who have opposed the ban, including these protesters, have
described these platforms as really critical communications channels for many
Nepalese families.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Talk me through that. So that we're talking here about
more of a demographic argument, then.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah, exactly. So I did not know this before, but
was fascinated to learn that about eight percent of Nepal's
population that's over two million people live abroad, mostly as
migrant workers. Now, many families in Nepal rely entirely on
platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to stay in touch
with their relatives who work overseas. So when the government
(03:40):
suddenly blocked these platforms, it cut off communications for millions.
But there's also a really crucial economic stability angle to
all of this as well. According to World Bank data,
the money that these international workers send home to their
families in Nepal, what's known as personal remittances, that actually
accounts for over thirty three percent of Nepal's GDP. It's
(04:02):
the highest that figure has ever been. So there's a
really critical economic link between Nepalese families in the country
and their relatives abroad, you know, financially and from a
connection communications perspective.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Which in some ways is universal. I mean in countries,
both emerging economies and established economies, social media and instant
messaging is used for many economic reasons as well as
keeping in touch with families. And so then this led
to the protests that broke out on Monday. Were the
protest organizers and those who attended the protests were they
(04:39):
driven just by this social media ban or was this
kind of the tip of the iceberg for this group?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, exactly. This isn't just about social media access. This
ban has really become a catalyst for protests that follow
much deeper seated issues. So we're talking about allegation of
widespread government corruption, what protesters have described as a lack
of economic opportunities for young people that ties into the
(05:09):
idea that you know, millions of Nepalese people are leaving
the country to find work, and Nepal has seen frequent
changes in government since its monarchy was abolished in two
thousand and eight, so it's really faced a period of
political instability pretty much ever since independence was achieved. I
mentioned corruption. One protester told local media that videos had
(05:31):
emerged on TikTok showing kids of Nepalese politicians living lives
of luxury in a country where the per capita income
is just over two thousand dollars dollars per year.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So there's some pretty deep seated and historic anger that's
coming through in these protests. Social media get switched off
and then these protests emerge quite quickly. What happened at
the protests themselves.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So the demonstration started at nine am local time on
Monday in central katman Do, and thousands of young people
had mobilized gathered at that time, many of them students
in school uniforms or wearing their university logo and merchandise,
and there were holding signs that read things like shut
(06:16):
down corruption not social Media, unbanned social Media, Youth against Corruption.
The protest was organized by this group called Hami Nepal,
which means We Nepal in English, and they'd actually received
official permission to hold this rally, so it wasn't a
surprise that demonstrators had turned out. But as the day
went on, things really escalated.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Well, what you're talking about there is the violence that
we've seen at the rallies. Was there a moment where
things did turn violent.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yes, So the protest moved towards the Nepalese Parliament and
that's where some demonstrators kind of broke through police barricades
they entered this restricted zone. There was vision circulating showing
groups of young people climbing the walls trying to enter
parliamentary building. And it was really at that point that
authorities reacted with quite strong force. A curfew was imposed
(07:08):
in parts of the city and police used water cannons,
tear gas, rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowds,
but then, really distressingly and according to multiple reports and
eyewitness accounts, police began to fire live rounds of ammunition
at the demonstrators. By the end of the day, hundreds
of people were injured and at least nineteen people were dead.
(07:31):
Seventeen in Katmandu and two in the eastern city of Iahari.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Talk me through the international response to this. Then live
rounds on protesters escalates protests no matter where they are
in the world to attract international attention. What's the reaction been.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So, the UN Human Rights Office said it was shocked
by the killings and injury of protesters. It has urged
what it called, quote, a prompt and transparent investigation, and
the UN said it's received several deeply worrying allegations of
unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by security forces during
the protests. So the UN has called on Nepalese authorities
(08:10):
to quote respect and ensure the rights of peaceful assembly
and freedom of expression. Then we had Amnesty International release
of statement which said it strongly condemns the unlawful use
of lethal and less lethal force by law enforcement in Nepal.
It said the government must genuinely listen to the legitimate
demands of the youth to end corruption, deliver accountability, and
(08:32):
ensure civil liberties instead of melting out such reckless violence
against them.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Well, let's talk about that government response. Then there were
clear calls on the government. Have they responded to both
the social media band and the protests themselves since Monday. Yes.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So, in the initial aftermath of these deadly protests. On
Monday night, as the death hole was rising, as this
story began to make global headlines, the country's Prime Minister KP.
Sharma Olli called an emergency cabinet meeting. Then we had
a statement in which the PM said he was deeply
saddened by what had happened, but ultimately he blamed what
(09:09):
he called quote infiltration by various vested interest groups for
the violence. He didn't specify who these groups were, but
he also said his government was quote not negative towards
the demands raised by the GenZ protesters. Initially, there was
resistance within the government to lifting the social media ban.
We had some MPs saying that they were doubling down,
(09:31):
that they were not going to wind it back just
because of this unrest. Some reports suggested the Prime Minister
himself was strongly opposed to reversing the decision, But ultimately
it was reversed.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
And that all happened yesterday. Yeah, so the ban is
now no longer in place.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Exactly so, less than twenty four hours after the deadly protests.
The Communications and Information Technology Minister announced that the ban
had indeed been lifted, telling Reuter's quote, we have withdrawn
them shut down of the social media. They are working now,
So all platforms back online.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Okay. So, and where does this all leave Nepal now
and the gen Z protesters as they've been described in
international media. Where do things go for the country?
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, So, the government has announced a high level probe
committee to investigate the incident that will have to submit
a report within two weeks to kind of give its
assessment on what happened, what led to the deaths, analyzing
the use of force during demonstrations, right, and the government
has also promised compensation for the families of those killed,
(10:36):
as well as free medical treatment for the injured. And
it is worth noting that the bill cited as the
basis for the social media ban, it hasn't actually passed
parliament yet. Oh well, so I'm sure there'll be more protests,
more demonstration, more action as we wait to see the
fate of that piece of legislation unfold. You know, these
issues remain largely unaddressed, and I think it's been particularly
(10:59):
fascinated to see the voice of young people of gen
Z protesters elevated on the world stage, and this kind
of activism really can be a wake up call. So
I'm sure this is not the last we will be
hearing about.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
This one I mentioned before, but I think it's just
so interesting that the international coverage of these protests really
is leaning into this phrase of the gen Z protests.
And it's not the first time in the world that
we've seen this age group do widespread protests and demonstrations.
It's the first time I can remember that there's a
really strong link between those protesting and the generation that
(11:35):
they represent. Exactly fascinating, really interesting. Thank you so much
for taking us through that, m and thank you for
joining us on the Daily Os today. We're going to
be back in the afternoon with your headlines, but until then,
have a wonderful Wednesday. We'll ch out to you later.
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda
Bunjelung Kalkuttin woman from Gadigal Country. The Daily Os acknowledge
(12:00):
that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Gadigal people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torrestrate
Island and nations. We pay our respects to the first
peoples of these countries, both past and present.
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