Nepal campaign on social media companies, which led The protests and the police kill at least 19 People, part of a year decrease in Internet freedoms around the world where even democracies seek to reduce online speech.
The country of the country of Himalayas said last week that it was preventing many social media platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube Compliance companies failed With the condition that they register with the government. The ban was lifted on Tuesday after a day of deadly protests.
What is happening in Nepal’s mirrors, “This is the broadest pattern of controlling the narration and controlling the stories outside the ground,” said Aditya Fashista, a professor of information aid at Cornell University. “This has happened several times in the neighboring countries in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. So this is not a new thing – in fact, I would like to say that this is taken from the play book, which is now very confirming, to try to control social media novels.”
Like neighboring countries, the Nepal government requires companies to set a communication in the country. Officials call for laws to monitor social media and ensure that both users and operators are responsible and wake up for what they share. However, this step was criticized as a tool for control and punishing opponents who express their online protests.
“Governments have absolutely correct interest in seeking to organize social media platforms. This is a daily part of our lives and in our actions. It is certainly reasonable for the authorities sitting and says we want to develop rules of the road,” said Kayan Vestineson, chief research analyst in the field of technology and democracy in the freedom of insecurity in Washington.
“But what we see in Nepal is that the sentences as a means of enforcing a set of rules for social media companies lead to largely incompatible damage. These measures that were placed in Nepal (CUT) tens of millions of people from the platforms they used to express themselves, to speak with their families, to go to school.”
It is not only Nepal. Freedom House has found that its global internet freedom has She refused the fourteenth year in a row In 2024, while opposition governments cut off and people are arrested to express political, social or religious views online. While China is constantly leading the list as the “worst environment in the world” for Internet freedom, Myanmar participated last year as well. The organization did not follow Nepal.
India passed the Communications Law in 2023 that gave its government “broad powers to restrict online communications and intercept communications,” according to Freedom House. Three years ago, Comprehensive internet law Place digital platforms such as Facebook under direct government control. Officials say the rules are necessary to put out wrong information and hate speech and give users more power to inform unwanted content. But critics have warned that it would lead to censorship in a country that digital freedoms were already shrinking.
In January, at the same time, Pakistan’s lower parliament council approved a bill It gives the government comprehensive controls on social mediaIncluding sending users to prison to spread misleading information.
Freedom House said that describing the Internet’s freedom as a “pillar of modern democracy”, health democracy in the twenty -first century cannot work without an online confidence environment, where people can access information and express themselves freely.
Nevertheless, governments place road barriers.
The regulations are often the name of the child’s safety, cyber crime, or fraud, “but unfortunately, many of these regulations come alongside restrictions.”
In the Nepalese law, for example, “the same ruling of this law, directs social media platforms to restrict the content related to children’s smuggling, human trafficking and employment, which is a truly important issue.” “Two points above, the platforms are required to restrict people from an unknown post.”
The committee, which protects journalists on Monday, said that the protests “emphasize the widespread fears of Nepal’s ban on social media and the urgent need for the government to give up its matter. Such a comprehensive ban not only restricts freedom of expression, but it strongly hinders the work of journalists and the public’s right to know.”
The campaign appears to have stimulated an increase in use Virtual private networksOr VPN, according to Proton, which provides encrypted services. Subscriptions in the Proton VPN service in Nepal have jumped by 8,000 % since September 3, according to the data published by the company online. VPN is a service that allows users to hide their location in order to circumvent control or online display restrictions based on geography.
But experts warn that VPNS is not a final solution to government internet blocks. Vashistha indicated that it can be expensive and uncommon for many people, and it may be slow and lead to less quality experiences when people try to reach the banned social platforms.
Google, Meta, X and Tiktok (registered and still working) did not respond to the suspension requests.
Vestineson said that companies can take important steps to protect the privacy of their users – especially human rights defenders and activists who may be a specific goal of government repression in their countries.
“It is very important that social media platforms are responsible for their users in this way,” he said.
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AP Kelvin Chan and AP technology writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this report.