Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The government has decided to block social media platforms, including Facebook, that have not registered in Nepal.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology took the decision on Thursday afternoon.
“The Supreme Court has issued a directive order to the government in a contempt of court case, requiring all online and social media platforms of domestic or foreign origin to mandatorily undergo listing with the competent authority before operation, to evaluate and monitor undesirable content,” a notice published by the ministry said. “In compliance with the said order, and pursuant to the decision of the cabinet meeting held on August 25, the ministry, under the Directive Regarding the Management of Use of Social Media, 2023 had published a public notice on August 18 providing seven days for social media platforms to complete the listing process. As some social media platforms failed to contact the ministry within the prescribed timeframe for listing, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority has been instructed to deactivate such platforms within Nepal, and to immediately reactivate them once they complete the listing process.”
The ministry has already forwarded its decision to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) for implementation.
The cabinet meeting held on August 15 had directed all social media platforms operating in Nepal to complete their registration within a week. As the instruction was ignored, the ministry decided to enforce the ban starting Thursday.
