Nepal’s government has said it will shut off access to major social media platforms, including Facebook and X, after they failed to comply with authorities’ registration requirements.

The move, announced on Thursday, is part of what the government says is an effort to curb online hate, rumours and cybercrime.

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Companies were given a deadline of Wednesday to register with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and provide a local contact, grievance handler and person responsible for self-regulation – or face shutdown.

“Unregistered social media platforms will be deactivated today onwards,” ministry spokesman Gajendra Kumar Thakur told AFP.

Communications and IT Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said, “We gave them enough time to register and repeatedly requested them to comply with our request, but they ignored [this], and we had to shut their operations in Nepal.”

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, YouTube parent Alphabet, X, Reddit, and LinkedIn were asked to register by Wednesday’s deadline.

AFP reported that the platforms remained accessible on Thursday.

‘Directly hits fundamental rights’

The online restrictions follow a 2023 directive requiring social media platforms – which have millions of users in Nepal with accounts for entertainment, news and business – to register and establish a local presence.

Only five, including TikTok and Viber, have since formally registered, while two others are in the process.

Bhola Nath Dhungana, president of Digital Rights Nepal, said that the sudden closure shows the “controlling” approach of the government.

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“This directly hits the fundamental rights of the public,” Dhungana said. “It is not wrong to regulate social media, but we first need to have the legal infrastructure to enforce it. A sudden closure like this is controlling.”

Nepal has restricted access to popular online platforms in the past.

Access was blocked to the Telegram messaging app in July, with the government citing a rise in online fraud and money laundering.

In August last year, Nepal lifted a nine-month ban on TikTok after the platform’s South Asia division agreed to comply with Nepali regulations.

Governments worldwide, including the United States, European Union, Brazil and Australia, are also tightening oversight of social media and big tech, citing concerns over misinformation, data privacy, online harm and national security. India has mandated local compliance officers and takedown mechanisms, while China maintains strict censorship and licensing controls.