Nepal Government Lifts Ban On TikTok After Nine Months

The Nepal government decided to lift the ban it imposed on the video-sharing app TikTok. A Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli reportedly took this decision. Notably, Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli became the prime minister last month after the collapse of the previous coalition government. The previous government banned TikTok in November 2023, saying that the platform was responsible for disturbing social harmony.

CNBC, citing sources, reported that the new government lifted the ban imposed on TikTok with certain conditions. "It was lifted as a matter of policy. However, the company has to fulfil our conditions to implement the decision," said Prithvi Subba Gurung, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, as quoted by CNBC. The minister said that every social network should now be listed in the ministry under Section 3 of the "Social Network Operation Guideline 2080." Prithvi Subba Gurung added that Tiktok’s representatives agreed to be listed in Nepal.

More than 1,600 TikTok-related cybercrime cases were registered over four years in Nepal before the ban. Following the ban in November, dozens of people reportedly held protests in Kathmandu demanding the government revoke the ban. Reuters, citing the Internet Service Providers' Association of Nepal, reported that TikTok had 2.2 million users in the country at the time. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has come under scrutiny from governments around the world over concerns that data could be passed to the Chinese government.