Police in Kathmandu opened fire Monday on protesters demonstrating against a government ban on social media, killing at least 17 people and wounding 145, officials said.
The death toll was announced by police official Shekhar Khanal. He said that 28 police officers were among the wounded, as smaller protests continued into late Monday evening.
Rallies swept the streets of Kathmandu around the Parliament building, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of people angry over the decision by authorities to block most social media platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube. Officials said the companies had failed to register and submit to government oversight, The AP news reported.
Protesters pushed through barbed wire and forced riot police to retreat inside the Parliament complex. Police eventually opened fire at the protesters.
The situation remained tense and the government announced a curfew for Monday around Parliament, the government secretariat, presidential house and key parts of the city.
Seven of those killed and scores of wounded were received at the National Trauma Center, the country’s main hospital located in the heart of Kathmandu.
“Many of them are in serious condition and appear to have been shot in the head and chest,” said Dr. Badri Risal, a physician. Families waited anxiously outside for news of their relatives while people lined up to donate blood.
“Stop the ban on social media, stop corruption not social media,” the crowds outside parliament chanted, waving the red and blue national flags. Monday's rally was called the protest of Gen Z, generally referring to people born between 1995 and 2010.
About two dozen social network platforms that are widely used in Nepal were repeatedly given notices to register their companies officially in the country, the government said. Those which failed to register have been blocked since last week.
TikTok, Viber and three other platforms have registered and operate without interruption.
The move by the authorities came as the government sent a bill for a debate in Parliament that wants to ensure that social platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable.” It includes asking the companies to appoint a liaison office or point in the country.
The bill has been widely criticized as a tool for censorship and punishing government opponents who voice their protests online. Rights groups have called it an attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression and violate fundamental rights.
Nepal in 2023 banned video-sharing app TikTok for disrupting “social harmony, goodwill and diffusing indecent materials." The ban was lifted last year after TikTok's executives pledged to comply with local laws. They include a ban of pornographic sites that was passed in 2018.
