Nepal said on Thursday that it would ask its telecommunications agency to block access to several social media platforms including Facebook, Youtube, X and LinkedIn, after a deadline for them to register with authorities had passed the previous day. 

Companies had been given until Wednesday to register with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and to name a local contact, grievance handler and person responsible for self-regulation.

It's part of a social media crackdown on what the government describes as users with fake IDs spreading hate and rumors, committing cyber crime, and disturbing social harmony.

A government notice issued on Thursday instructed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) regulator to obstruct access to unregistered social media platforms but gave no details of which companies would be affected. 

Prominent Nepalese social media accounts like Everest Today issued warnings of disruptions to service, while some users noticed that, at least for the moment, they could still access sites set to face deactivation. 

Which major sites face deactivation, and which do not? 

Communications ministry officials told both the French AFP and Reuters news agencies that only five sites had registered in time; TikTok, Viber, WeTalk, Nimbuzz and Poppo Live. Two others were in the process of meeting the requirements. 

Facebook, boasting by far the most members in Nepal of any such site, was among those facing suspension, along with YouTube, X and LinkedIn. In total, 26 platforms were affected.

An estimated 90% of Nepal's population of almost 30 million use the internet.

"We gave them enough time to register and repeatedly requested them to comply with our request," Communications and IT Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said of the platforms facing at least temporary shutdown. "But they ignored [the request] and we had to shut [down] their operations in Nepal." 

The ministry's information officer Rabindra Prasad Poudel said that the companies had been given several notices to comply with a directive that dates back to 2023 originally and survived a Supreme Court Challenge in September 2024. It has faced challenges and protests, including from students in the capital Kathmandu.

Bholanath Dhungana, president of Digital Rights Nepal, said the sudden closure showed the "controlling" approach of the government and "directly hits the fundamental rights of the public." 

"It is not wrong to regulate social media, but we first need to have the legal infrastructure to enforce it," Dhungana said. "A sudden closure like this is controlling." 

Nepal has restricted social media access in the past. In July, it blocked the Telegram messaging app, citing a rise in online fraud and money laundering. In August last year, the government lifted a nine-month ban on TikTok after the platform's South Asia division agreed to comply with the new regulations. 

Edited by: Rana Taha