This country is shutting down Facebook, that's why

Periskopi

27 October 2025, 13:29(8 months ago)

Nepal's government has said it would cut access to major social media platforms, including Facebook and X, as they failed to meet the authorities' registration requirements. The movement, announced Thursday, is part of what the government calls an effort to curb online hatred, gossip and cybercrime. [...]

The movement, announced Thursday, is part of what the government calls an effort to curb online hatred, gossip and cybercrime.

Companies were given a deadline until Wednesday to register at the Information Communications and Technology Ministry and to ensure a local contact, a complaint processing, and a person responsible for the self - disorder, or face closure.

Unregistered social media platforms will be deactivated from today”, ministry spokesman Gajendra Kumar Thakur has said.

Minister of Communication and IT Priscre Subba Gurung said: “We gave them enough time to register and asked them to carry out our request, but they ignored [this] and we had to close their operations at Nepal”,

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, Alphabet, the parenting company YouTube, X, Reddit and LinkedIn were asked to register by Wednesday's deadline.

Online restrictions come after a 2023 directive requiring social media platforms that have millions of users in Nepal on account of entertainment, news and business registration and establish a local presence.

Only five, including TikTok and Viber, have been officially registered since then, while two others are under way. /Periscope/