At least 14 people have been killed and dozens more injured in Nepal’s capital as protesters clashed with police over a government decision to block 26 social media platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube.
Protesters pushed through fencing and forced riot police to retreat as they surrounded the parliament building in Kathmandu on Monday.
Police were said to have shot at protesters trying to storm the parliament building.
Officers also fired tear gas and used water cannons but were outnumbered and sought safety inside the parliamentary complex, the Associated Press news agency reported.
“Stop the ban on social media, stop corruption not social media,” the crowds chanted and waved national flags.
State-run television reported the number of fatalities and wounded.
Pic: Reuters
The unrest and violent clashes prompted authorities to impose a curfew across parts of the city, including the areas surrounding parliament and the presidential house.
Monday’s rally was called the protest of Gen Z, generally referring to people born between 1995 and 2010.
The government said social media networks have repeatedly been given notices to register their companies officially in the country but had failed to do so.
Pic: Reuters
Pic Reuters
Nepal’s minister for communication and information Prithvi Subba Gurung said last week the platforms would be blocked immediately.
TikTok, Viber and three other platforms have registered and are operating without interruption.
The government sent a bill for debate in parliament to ensure social media platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable”.
The bill has been widely criticised as a tool for censorship and punishing government opponents who voice their protests online.
Rights groups have called it an attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression and violate fundamental rights.
Read more from Sky News:
Woman at centre of hit-and-run Madeleine McCann theory
Fugitive father on the run with children shot dead by police
At least six killed in shooting in Jerusalem
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In 2023, Nepal banned TikTok after accusing the platform of disrupting “social harmony, goodwill and diffusing indecent materials”.
The ban was lifted last year after a series of pledges by TikTok executives to comply with local laws.
The laws included a ban introduced in 2018 of pornographic sites.
