Background
On February 2019, the government registered the Information Technology Bill [15] in the Pratinidhi Sabha for discussion. [16] By December 2019, the Development and Technology Committee of the Pratinidhi Sabha passed the Information Technology Bill, 2019 to regulate and control social media. [17] [18] After a couple of years, [19] on 8 April 2021, the government scheduled to propose the bill again to Pratinidhi Sabha. [20] The government had to back off after opposition voices claimed that the bill was intended to curtail freedom of speech. [21] Despite this setback, the Oli cabinet later passed a directive from the cabinet meeting on social media management [22] on 9 November 2023. [23] [24] [25] Subsequently, the government managed to unanimously pass the Information Technology and Cyber Security Bill 2025 [26] in the Pratinidhi Sabha on 14 August 2025. [27] [28]
Stepping forward, the government registered a bill related to regulating social media in Nepal, formally named as the Bill Related to Operation, Use, and Regulation of Social Media in Nepal, aka Social Network Bill 2024, [a] [29] to the Rastriya Sabha on 28 January 2025 by Communications and Information Technology Minister of Nepal Prithvi Subba Gurung. [30] [31] [32]
On 25 August 2025, the government cabinet meeting decided to make mandatory registration of foreign social media platforms in accordance with the Social Media Management Directive 2023. [33] [34] The move was taken after a decision made by the Supreme Court of Nepal, while hearing a contempt case (Case No. 080-CF-0012). [35] The Government of Nepal issued a public notice on 28 August 2025, to register all social media platforms operating in this country within the next 7 days. [36]
The incident was triggered by the shutdown of 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Signal, and Snapchat by the Government of Nepal on 4 September 2025. [37] [38] The government claimed the shutdowns occurred because the platforms failed to register under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology's new rules. [38] After the ban of social media platforms, a series of social media posts by the youths highlighting nepotism and focusing on the undue privileges enjoyed by the children and relatives of influential political leaders started trending on the Internet. [39] [40] [41]
The prohibition of popular social media platforms led to widespread confusion across the country. The ban potentially impacted press freedom, the tourism industry, and specifically migrant workers' families, who use social media to communicate with their relatives working abroad. [42] According to the 2021 Nepal census, there were 2,175,000 Nepalese living abroad. [43] [44]
Incident
The move by the protesters to enter the Parliament building came after the deadly clashes with police a day before, on 8 September 2025. A group of Gen Z activists and students took permission from the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, to hold a peaceful protest against the government decision to ban social media, rampant corruption, and politicians' kids' lifestyles. The District Administration Office, Kathmandu, approved to host a peaceful protest which features cultural performances like music and dance, placards demonstrating rallies, [45] and peaceful marches outside the prohibited zones of Maitighar Mandala-New Baneshwor area from 09:00 NST. [46] [47]
The New Baneshwor area was packed with protestors from early morning, thousands of youths chanted slogans against the government's rampant corruption and their recent decision to ban 26 unregistered social media platforms. [48] The situation intensified after protesters breached the restricted zone [49] and entered the premises of the Parliament building. The first report of clashes between protestors and police reported on 12:15 NST. [50] In response, the police fired water cannons, tear gas, and live ammunition, which left 19 dead and around 500 injured on 8 September 2025. [51] [52] The Chief District Officer of Kathmandu district, Chhabi Lal Rijal, issued a prohibitory order to impose curfew in several neighbourhoods of Kathmandu, including the New Baneshwor area, which had a significant landmark, the Federal Parliament building. [53] According to the first order from DAO, Kathmandu, the curfew timing was from 12:30 NST to 22:00 NST, but it was extended indefinitely until further notice. [54] The Nepali Army took control of the roads surrounding the parliament building. [55] The Home Affairs minister, Ramesh Lekhak, resigned from his post in the evening, taking moral responsibility for the violence. [56]
There are many other incidents of storming parliament worldwide, but there are very few casualties of protestors from the police bullets. [57] [58] On 9 September 2025, the protesters, many of whom were Gen Z and Alpha, gathered in the New Baneshwor area. [59] Later, they broke through the police barricade and entered the parliament building. [5] [7] [60] Thousands of protesters broke through police barriers and stormed the compound of the parliament. Several rooms of the federal parliament building were torched, ransacked, and cars parked outside were vandalised. [61] [62] [6] [63] While the Parliament building was being set on fire, unauthorized persons looted equipment such as computers, televisions, printers, photocopy machines, scanners, microphones, and cameras from various branches and secretariats of the building. [64] The Nepalese Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, resigned from his post amid the deadly protest at 14:00 NST. [65] [66] [67]
A rumor video was circulated on social media that 32 missing people were found dead inside the parliament building on 9 September 2025. [68] Later, the Nepal Police clarified that the video is from another incident and from another country. [69]
There were two large chambers inside the building, the House of Representatives and the National Assembly. All the furniture, cameras, sound systems, equipment, servers, and television screens installed in those chambers were burnt and demolished. [70] The server room, which stored all the important digital documentation for Parliament, was destroyed. The offices of the speaker and the National Assembly chairperson were completely burnt down. [71] [72]
Thirteen four-wheelers and more than 40 two-wheelers of the parliament secretariat were burnt down. [73] The parliament secretariat library, which houses important documents of this country, has been saved. [74] On 15 September 2025, the federal parliament secretariat issued a notice to return the looted items from the parliament building. The secretariat also urged cooperation by providing any video footage related to this incident and identity of the person providing the information or video will be kept confidential. [75] [76]
The newly appointed cabinet Energy Minister, Kul Man Ghising, Home and Law Minister Om Prakash Aryal, and Finance Minister Rameshwor Khanal, visited the parliament building to assess the damage. [77] Many other officials, politicians, and speakers visited the charred parliament building. [78]
