by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
KATHMANDU/JAKARTA (Worthy News) – At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured in Nepal’s capital Monday as riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament over a sweeping social media shutdown and mounting corruption, state television said.
Witnesses described chaos as young demonstrators breached barricades, set an ambulance ablaze, and ferried the wounded by motorbike. “The police have been firing indiscriminately,” one protester told the India-based Asian News International (ANI) news agency. “They fired bullets which missed me but hit a friend standing behind me. He was hit in the hand.”
Crowds chanted, “Shut down corruption, not social media,” after the government, led by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, banned 26 prominent social media platforms and messaging apps it said had failed to comply with new regulations.
The restrictions cover global platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, Reddit, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Signal. Officials said the blackout would remain in place “until these social media platforms register with regulators.” Only five companies, includingTikTok, complied with the order and avoided restrictions.
A curfew was imposed in central Kathmandu, and army troops were deployed, yet unrest spread beyond the capital to other major cities, including Biratnagar, Pokhara, and Bharatpur. Biratnagar is a key industrial hub near the Indian border, Pokhara is the country’s main tourist gateway to the Himalayas, and Bharatpur is a fast-growing commercial center near Chitwan National Park.
Officials defended the social media ban as necessary to curb hate speech, misinformation, and cybercrime, though rights advocates condemned it as a crackdown on free expression.
DIPLOMATIC AND REGIONAL FALLOUT
India expressed concern about the violence and urged Nepal to uphold democratic freedoms and the free flow of information.
The country’s border security force, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), placed the frontier on high alert to prevent unrest spilling into Indian territory, with Home Minister Amit Shah overseeing the response.
Rights watchdogs, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), condemned the shutdown as a “dangerous precedent for press freedom.”
Journalists in Kathmandu joined demonstrations, holding placards with slogans such as “No shutdown of social networks, no silencing of voices.”
Analysts said Nepal’s sweeping restrictions highlight a broader global debate about regulating Big Tech.
While governments worldwide—from the European Union to Brazil, China, and India—have introduced tighter rules on digital platforms, critics warned Kathmandu’s approach risks tipping into authoritarian suppression of dissent.
TAXI DRIVER CRUSHED
The turmoil mirrored recent protests in Indonesia, where at least four people died in student-led demonstrations against entrenched political elites and economic hardship.
Public anger intensified after video showed an armored vehicle crushing a motorcycle taxi driver, prompting fresh clashes with riot police.
Though Christians have not been central to either protest movement, they may face heightened risks as instability deepens, according to a Worthy News analysis.
In Nepal, the small Christian minority—already restricted by anti-conversion laws and social hostility—fears further repression, advocacy reports suggest.
In Indonesia, church bodies including the Communion of Churches and the Bishops’ Conference condemned police violence and urged dialogue, calling for “justice and peace” in response to the bloodshed.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
A single citizen tip ignited Operation Reclaim and Rebuild, a sweeping, week-long human trafficking operation that rescued nearly 20 children, uncovered residential brothels, and led to more than 600 arrests across California, authorities said this week.
Europe reeled Sunday after newly released U.S. Justice Department files detailing the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s global contacts shook royal houses and governments, triggering resignations, investigations and political fallout across several European countries.
The Trump administration announced it will no longer abide by the expired New START nuclear arms agreement, arguing the treaty fails to restrain Russia’s expanding arsenal and excludes China’s rapidly growing nuclear forces, according to a senior State Department official.
Hungary’s main opposition leader is demanding answers over 650 billion forints ($2 billion) in disputed funds linked to foundation structures created by the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), branding the case “the world’s biggest bank robbery.”
One of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) most recognizable intelligence publications, long sought by journalists and researchers seeking factual information about countries, has suddenly disappeared.
Several Christian families in Pakistan’s Punjab province were recovering from injuries Sunday after what they described as “targeted attacks” by suspected Islamic extremists, reflecting broader pressure on Christians and other minorities in the Muslim-majority nation.
Iran’s leadership has flatly refused to abandon uranium enrichment or scale back its ballistic missile program, even as President Donald Trump intensifies a dual-track strategy of diplomacy and military pressure aimed at forcing a broader agreement with Tehran.