How many of you are having problems accessing social media already? I had experienced it since last night when X (Twitter) went suddenly off and I had to switch to VPN. But don’t you worry, you aren’t the only one facing the problem because Nepal government has decided to block access to Nepal unless they all register in Nepal. Now let’s dive in this article, where i will discuss everything about Nepal’s social media ban, including the complete list of blocked platforms and what it means for users.
Nepal’s Social Media Ban Overview
As you might be aware that the government of Nepal has decided to ban social media platforms that have not been registered in Nepal. Ministry spokesman Gajendra Kumar Thakur said “Unregistered social media platforms will be deactivated from today onwards.” The decision came after a meeting at MoCIT, chaired by Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung.
And weirdly enough, the timing they chose was also right after Meta enabled Facebook monetization in Nepal. Creators who were just getting excited about making money are probably crying right now.
Only 7 Platforms Made the Cut
According to Thakur, only five platforms have actually registered so far. Two more are trying to get in. “We don’t even know how many social media platforms are operating in Nepal or who runs them. That’s why the decision has been made to block all platforms except those already registered.”
The lucky ones that registered:
- Viber
- WeTalk
- TikTok
- Nimbuzz
- PopoLive
Still trying to register:
- Telegram
- Global Diary
But the government has only bothered contacting Meta and X directly. As they basically sent ultimatums to two companies and blocked everyone else without warning.
Surveillance or the Societies of Control?
On a personal note, I’m indeed torn on this. Because it must be stated that big tech surveillance is real. CIA’s In-Q-Tel has stakes in these companies, and data access isn’t some conspiracy theory anymore. And the idea of just not letting American corporations have total control over our digital lives makes complete sense to me. But then again, what even counts as social media? Should Spotify register? What about OpenAI? The lines are so blurry it’s ridiculous, and it would not make sense for every single application that operates all over the globe to be registered in every single country.
But despite all of this, the real victims here aren’t young people who can figure out VPNs. It’s grandparents who just learned how to video call their grandkids on WhatsApp. How do you explain to them that they can’t talk to family abroad because of “registration compliance”? Anyway, here are the 26a applications that are now blocked in Nepal.
Complete List of What Got Blocked
All 26 platforms that didn’t make the cut:
Meta’s entire ecosystem:
- Messenger
Google:
- YouTube
Others:
- X (Twitter)
- Snapchat
- Discord
- Signal
- Threads
International Service:
- Quora
- Tumblr
- Clubhouse
- Mastodon.
- Rumble
- MeWe
- VK
- Line
- IMO
- Zalo
- Soul
local services:
- Hamro Patro
What Happens Now
The registration process sounds bureaucratic as hell. Platforms need to submit applications, designate complaint handlers, provide tax numbers. Even companies already registered with Nepal’s tax office need separate social media registration because of a Supreme Court directive. They’re drafting new laws in the National Assembly about all this. Which means this mess is probably going to get more complicated, not less.
But one thing is certain, that now Instagram businesses are basically screwed right now. Whereas WhatsApp communication is dead and YouTube creators lost their income overnight. Maybe the big companies will cave and register. Maybe they’ll find a workaround. Or maybe we’re about to find out what digital isolation actually feels like. For now, don’t uninstall anything that’s still working, learn how VPNs/DNS work, and hope somebody figures this out soon.
