Nepal Gen Z Protest: Why Young Nepalis Are Taking to the Streets?

Nepal’s Gen Z protest against social media ban killed 19 people and left 300 injured. Most of them were young people and school students who lost their life for fighting against the Nepal government for their rights of freedom of speech.

This was not the first time that people of Nepal expressed their will to topple the KP Sharma Oli government’s before. Frequent curbs to violate their freedom of speech, poor management of resources, corruption, nepotism, and lack of accountability in governance in Nepal has left people full of disappointment and anguish. The last nail in the coffin on the ruling government was when on 4 September, Nepal’s ministry for communication and information technology, led by Minister Prithivi Subba Gurung, banned all 26 social media platforms in Nepal. It included Meta, X, YouTube and Snapchat as well

Operation, Use and Regulation of Social media

It’s not that it was banned on a random day. Proper bill named as “Operation, Use and Regulation of Social media in Nepal” was introduced in the parliament to curb down the misinformation and to regulate the revenues. To be noted, this bill was not passed yet in the parliament. So according to this, a total of seven days was given to all social media platforms operating in Nepal. In these seven days, all big and small social media platforms were asked to register themselves and appoint a local conduct person, starting 26 August. That person (aka resident grievance handling officer and compliance officer) will be then responsible for handling any compliances and grievances.

Here, negligence against this request from Nepal’s authorities was made by Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Alphabet (YouTube), X (formerly Twitter), and Reddit. After which these companies went dark and their operations was held since they didn’t comply with new local registration rules.

But meanwhile apps like TikTok, Viber, Wetalk, Nimbuzz, and Popo Live all were not banned as they submitted their applications within a week. While Global Diary and Telegram were under the examination.

Here’s a Full list of apps banned in Nepal:

Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, X, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Reddit, Discord, Pinterest, Signal, Threads, WeChat, Quora, Tumblr, Clubhouse, Mastodon, Rumble, VK, Line, IMO, Zalo, Soul, and Hamro Patro.

How it become so violent?

The protest started in Kathmandu on Monday. What started as a peaceful protest become violent when alleged motorcycle riders started broke barricades and entered parliament premises. And then it was spread out to other Himalayan regions of Nepal. As it quickly turned out violent, mass protesters started breaching parliament premises and vandalized public properties. They also targeted homes of politicians and some of them were burned down. Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, wife of Ex PM Jhala Nath Khanal, was killed when his home was set on fire by the mob.

Along with this, private residences of President Ram Chandra Poudel, Prime Minister Oli, Ex PMs including Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda and Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Energy Minister Deepak Khadka were also damaged by protestors.

Now, curfew has been imposed in Kathmandu along with cities like  Pokhara, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Bharatpur, Itahari, Damak Baneshwor, Singhadurbar, Narayanhiti, and sensitive government areas.

How many died in Gen Z protest?

An online video circulating on social media platforms shows how the protestors were asked to slow down and when they did, open rounds of fire rubber bullets, water canons and use of violent batons were made which led to brutal killing of 19 youngsters and injured 300 people including 20 policemen.

3 police personnel lynched in Koteshwor

According to a news website, Khabarhub, during this protest, three police officers stationed at Koteshwor were brutally lynched by protesters. Not only the police division was set on fire but they were dragged into the streets where they were beaten till death. The Nepal Police Headquarters in Naxal confirmed these horrendous and barbaric acts on officers who were just serving their nation and doing their duties.

What’s India take on this protest?

On my return from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab today, a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security discussed the developments in Nepal. The violence in Nepal is heart-rending. I am anguished that many young people have lost their lives. The stability, peace and prosperity of…— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 9, 2025

“We are closely monitoring the developments in Nepal since yesterday and are deeply saddened by the loss of many young lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with families of deceased. We also wish speedy recovery for those who were injured,” the Indian government said.