The deadline set by the government for social media platforms to register in Nepal ended on Sunday, April 20, 2025, but no new platforms have come forward for registration.

So far, only TikTok, Viber, and WeChat are listed in Nepal. Other platforms, including Facebook and Instagram under Meta, as well as X and YouTube, are not registered in Nepal. These social media companies have been ignoring the government’s request for registration.

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology had published a notice on March 20, 2025, giving unregistered platforms a one-month deadline to comply. Accordingly, all social media platforms were required to be registered in Nepal by Sunday.

However, no new social media platforms were registered within this period, according to Ministry Spokesperson Gajendra Kumar Thakur. “Not registering means rejecting Nepal’s laws,” he said. This has raised widespread concern about whether the government will ban platforms like Facebook and Instagram in Nepal.

The government’s spokesperson and Minister for Communication, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has publicly stated that unregistered platforms will be banned from operating in Nepal.

Speaking at the 8th National Convention of the Federation of Indigenous Nationalities Journalists (FoNIJ) in Rupandehi on Friday, Minister Gurung reiterated that platforms not registered in Nepal will be shut down in a few days.

Highlighting the need to regulate social media, he claimed that unregistered platforms are contributing to crimes such as murder, violence, fraud, and robbery. He emphasised that registration is mandatory to control such activities.

The government had even sent letters to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, urging registration. “We wrote to Meta twice—first about three months ago, and again around a month ago,” said Spokesperson Thakur. The government believes that if Meta complies, other platforms will follow suit.

As the registration deadline neared without action, the Ministry held a virtual meeting last Wednesday with Meta’s Policy Management Team in Singapore. During the meeting, Meta’s representatives reportedly questioned the existence of legal provisions in Nepal for such registration.

In response, the Ministry clarified that social media platforms could register based on the existing Social Media Guidelines. Although Meta representatives promised to raise the issue with their senior leadership, they gave no clear commitment to register. Thakur accused Meta of using the absence of formal law as an excuse to avoid registration.

Meanwhile, the government has already tabled a bill in Parliament regarding the operation and regulation of social media, which includes mandatory registration provisions. Due to the absence of a formal law, these provisions were incorporated into the existing guidelines.

In 2023, the government issued Social Media Guidelines to regulate social media platforms. According to these guidelines, any platform operating in Nepal must be registered with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

The guidelines also require platforms to appoint a contact point within Nepal and assign an official to handle complaints. Registered platforms must renew their licence every three years and implement technology to prevent advertisements violating Nepali law from reaching users.

The draft bill registered in Parliament also mandates that any company, firm or institution wishing to operate a social media platform in Nepal must obtain a licence. Unlicensed platforms may be banned from operating within the country.

According to the guidelines, the government can restrict operations of platforms that do not comply with the set standards. However, implementing such a ban may not be easy.

Blocking platforms like Facebook could disrupt major channels of information dissemination. Facebook, X, and similar platforms have become key sources of news and information in Nepal—not just for the public, but also for the government itself.

Moreover, many citizens rely on these platforms for economic opportunities. As such, any move to ban them could trigger public backlash.

When the government previously banned TikTok on 13 November 2023, citing the spread of disruptive content, it faced heavy criticism. The ban was lifted about nine months later.

Spokesperson Thakur believes that a decision to ban social media platforms should not be taken lightly. “Since these platforms are closely linked to the public and serve as a medium of information, the impact of a ban must be carefully considered,” he said.

Given the widespread use of platforms like Facebook and X, and the absence of reliable alternatives, the government must engage in thorough discussion before imposing restrictions. However, Thakur noted that no such discussions have yet begun at the Ministry.

“Still, since these platforms have refused to comply with Nepal’s law, the government will eventually have to make a decision,” he added.