By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Police in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu opened fireplace Monday on demonstrators protesting a authorities try to control social media that blocked a number of the world’s largest platforms, together with Fb, X and YouTube. No less than 17 individuals have been killed.
Rallies swept the streets round the Parliament constructing, which was surrounded by tens of hundreds of individuals offended at authorities who mentioned the businesses had did not register and undergo authorities oversight. No less than 145 individuals have been wounded, officers mentioned.
Protesters pushed by means of barbed wire and compelled riot police to retreat contained in the Parliament complicated.
The gunfire unfolded as the federal government pursues a broader try to control social media with a invoice aimed toward guaranteeing the platforms are “correctly managed, accountable and accountable.” The proposal has been extensively criticized as a instrument for censorship and for punishing authorities opponents who voice their protests on-line.
About two dozen social networks which might be extensively used in Nepal have been repeatedly given notices to register their firms formally within the Himalayan nation, the federal government mentioned. Those who did not register have been blocked since final week.
Neither Google, which owns YouTube, nor Meta, the mum or dad firm of Fb, Instagram and WhatsApp, responded to requests for remark from The Related Press. Elon Musk’s X platform didn’t reply both.
The video-sharing app TikTok, Viber and three different platforms have registered and operated with out interruption.
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Protesters shout slogans in entrance of an armored automobile outdoors the Parliament constructing in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Picture/Niranjan Shrestha)
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Protesters shout slogans in entrance of an armored automobile outdoors the Parliament constructing in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Picture/Niranjan Shrestha)
The loss of life toll was introduced by police official Shekhar Khanal. He mentioned 28 officers have been among the many wounded, as smaller protests continued into late Monday night.
The scenario remained tense, and the federal government introduced a curfew round Parliament, the federal government secretariat, the presidential home and key components of town.
Seven of these killed and scores of wounded have been acquired on the Nationwide Trauma Middle, the nation’s major hospital within the coronary heart of Kathmandu.
“A lot of them are in critical situation and seem to have been shot within the head and chest,” mentioned Dr. Badri Risa. Households waited anxiously outdoors for information of their family whereas individuals lined as much as donate blood.
“Cease the ban on social media. Cease corruption, not social media,” the crowds outdoors Parliament chanted, waving the purple and blue nationwide flags. Monday’s rally was referred to as the protest of Gen Z, which usually refers to individuals born between 1995 and 2010.
The federal government’s proposed invoice consists of asking the businesses to nominate a liaison workplace or a degree of contact within the nation. Rights teams have referred to as it an try by the federal government to curb freedom of expression and elementary rights.
Nepal in 2023 banned TikTok for disrupting “social concord, goodwill and diffusing indecent supplies.” The ban was lifted final 12 months after TikTok’s executives pledged to adjust to native legal guidelines, together with a ban of pornographic websites that was handed in 2018.
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