Kathmandu, 5 Sep: The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is gradually deactivating all social media platforms that are not listed with the ministry. A ministerial meeting held at the Ministry of Communications on Thursday directed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, the regulatory body for telecommunications and internet services, to deactivate them. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had repeatedly notified social media platforms that were not listed in Nepal to be listed, but the Council of Ministers issued such instructions after the companies concerned refused.
The ministry has initiated this process after the Supreme Court order and the decision of the Council of Ministers on Bhadra 25 were issued. The government has been forced to deactivate the platforms after the platforms failed to comply with the government’s repeated notifications, said government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung. “Our aim is not to permanently close social media. They will be re-regulated as soon as they come into contact,” he said. “Those that have been listed and are in the process will not be closed, they will continue to operate freely.”
Ministry of Communications Spokesperson Gajendra Kumar Thakur informed that five social media platforms have been listed so far, including TikTok, Viber, Bitok, Nimbaz and Popo Live. Among these social media platforms, TikTok was registered on 2 October 2024, Bitok on 24 October 2024, Viber on 8 March 2025, Nimbaz on 4 May 2025 and Popo Live were recently registered. He said that Telegram, Global Diary and Hamro Patro are in the process of being listed. “According to a study conducted by the ministry, 25 social media platforms are currently being used more actively in Nepal. It is not certain how many will be closed,” he said.
Spokesperson Thakur insisted that the social media was not being deactivated because it was damaging ethnic, religious and cultural harmony. He said that it had reached a point where it was being deactivated after it failed to be listed in compliance with the laws and regulations of the Government of Nepal.
“No newspaper or online publication can be operated without registration. No organization can be operated without registration. If social media operators are registered and doing business all over the world, they should also be registered in Nepal,” he said. “It is only that they should be registered and operated when operating in Nepal. We have only requested social media operators to be listed under the ministry. We have asked them to designate a contact point. There is no requirement to have an office or any other provision in Nepal.” He said that if all social media are listed according to the law, they will operate freely.
Meanwhile, the ministry has stated that the issue that Facebook’s parent company Meta has written to implement the government’s decision as soon as the decision to deactivate the social network will be implemented is baseless. Minister for Communications Gurung informed that Meta has not officially contacted the ministry till Thursday evening. The Nepal Telecommunication Authority has written to all service providers and directed them to deactivate 26 social networks. The authority has issued such instructions following the instructions of the Ministry of Communications, the authority said in a statement issued on Thursday.
