Nepal Bans Social Media Platforms Like Facebook, X & 24 Others, Here’s What the Supreme Court Said

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The Nepal Supreme Court decided to ban 26 social media apps, including Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube. The judgment was passed on 4 September 2025, claiming that the applications failed to comply with the registration rules despite being informed beforehand. The KP Sharma Oli government shocked the world with its bold move on Thursday.

Compliance Failure Triggers Bold Action from Nepal Supreme Court


The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Nepal shared a public notice as soon as the Supreme Court's judgment was passed, saying it “has ordered the Nepal Telecommunication Authority to make inactive all non-registered social media sites until they are registered.”

Despite publicly sharing the notice and asking the social media companies to comply with the registration guidelines, the ministry did not get a response. Finally, the Supreme Court issued a deadline of seven days to make the required adjustments to their platform policies. However, they still didn’t get a response, which has now led to a ban of 26 social media apps.

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The Ministry's spokesperson, Gajendra Thakur, on Wednesday, just a few hours before the deadline, said that the Nepal government was hopeful that the social media companies would reach out to them before midnight. Failure to do so would result in a ban on all the listed social media platforms.

Ujjwal Acharya Says the Ban was Misguided


Director of the Center for Media Research, Ujjwal Acharya, said that the ban enforced by the government was totally misguided as it comes at the expense of the democratic image Nepal holds.

Acharya said, “The government has decided without evaluating how this will impact common citizens.” Showing concerns over the democratic image, he added, “This decision is going to harm Nepal’s democratic reputation for a long time and will create a lasting negative perception globally.”

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Free speech advocates have also criticized this ban, citing that it is less about regulation and more about preventing dissenting voices.

To sum up, Nepal's citizens do not appreciate its ban on social media platforms. Ujjwal Acharya also talked about the impact this ban could have on ordinary people, as not everyone uses these platforms to express their political views and opinions. These apps are a part of daily life and business for most people.