Protests Erupt In Nepal Over Social Media Blocking

19 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured.

At least 19 people have been killed in clashes between police and demonstrators in Nepal at protests against corruption and a ban on social media, Reuters reported.

More than 100 other people, including 28 police officers, were injured, police told Reuters.

Police in Nepal's capital Kathmandu used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters, the agency wrote. Some of the protesters managed to break into the complex of Nepal's parliament buildings. The protesters also set fire to an ambulance and threw various objects at the police.

"The police fired indiscriminately. They fired bullets that flew past me but hit a friend who was standing behind me. He was shot in the arm," one protester told the ANI news agency.

Organizers of the protests called them "Generation Z demonstrations." As Reuters notes, many protesters carried flags and placards with slogans such as "Ban corruption, not social media," "Unblock social media," and "Youth against corruption."

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli called an emergency cabinet meeting in the wake of the protests. A city official told Reuters that the curfew, which will remain in place until 10 p.m. local time (7:15 p.m. Moscow time), has been extended to Kathmandu's Singha Durbar district, where the prime minister's office and other government buildings are located.

Analogous protests have also taken place in Biratnagar and Bharatpur in the south of the country and Pokhara in western Nepal.

The Nepalese government has decided to block many social media platforms, saying the platforms have not registered with government authorities to combat abuses such as creating fake accounts, spreading fakes and scams.

Online platforms and social networks such as YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, LinkedIn, as well as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram have come under the restrictions.

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