This week, Nepal said that Chinese social media app TikTok will be banned from the country, as social harmony and goodwill were being negatively affected by its “misuse.”
Due to security concerns, the popular social media app has already been either partially or completely banned by other countries.
Local media reported that over the past four years, more than 1,600 TikTok-related cybercrime cases were registered in Nepal.
Nepal’s Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma told Reuters that the decision to ban TikTok was made during a cabinet meeting earlier this week.
“Colleagues are working on closing it technically,” he said.
Nepal Telecom Authority Chair Purushottam Khanal said internet service providers have been asked to close the app.
“Some have already closed while others are doing it later today,” he added.
While TikTok has not responded to requests for comment on the ban, it has previously said such bans are “misguided” and are based on “misconceptions.”
Nepalese opposition leaders also criticized the ban, stating it lacked “effectiveness, maturity and responsibility.”
Pradeep Gyawali, former foreign minister and a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), said, “There are many unwanted materials in other social media also. What must be done is to regulate and not restrict them.”
