Nepal Government decided to ban 26 social media including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook as they are failed to register with Nepal’s ministry of communication and information technology last week. People in Nepal think the government ban a lot of social medias in order to suppress an ongoing anti-corruption movement.
Dissatisfied with the incidents, where police and anti-corruption protesters clashed and left 22 dead, the Nepali Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, stepped down. His stepping down was taken by many as his effort to resolve the crisis through constitutional means. The protests were prompted mostly by allegations of widespread corruption and a ban on social media, which the government later rescinded.
On Monday, things got intense. Thousands of protesters, many identifying as Gen Z, hit the streets of Kathmandu, and nearly 200 people got injured as clashes broke out. The police used tear gas, water cannons, and even live bullets while protesters scaled the parliament walls and other government buildings. The violence continued into Tuesday, with protesters setting fire to the parliament building, the Nepali Congress Party headquarters, and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s house. A few other political leaders’ homes were also vandalized.
The protesters have made two key demands: the removal of the social media ban, which has now been lifted, and an end to what they describe as “corrupt practices” by government officials. Many of the demonstrators, primarily college students, have connected the social media ban to a broader attack on free speech, while also highlighting widespread corruption among political leaders.
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