Kathmandu, Nepal
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Police in Kathmandu opened fire on protesters demonstrating in opposition to a authorities ban on social media, killing at the very least 10 and wounding dozens extra on Monday.
Six individuals died on the Bir Hospital in Kathmandu, the Kantipur newspaper mentioned, quoting medical doctors. Two died on the Civil Hospital and two extra on the KMC hospital, based on medical doctors there who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to remark.
The wounded had been being handled at half a dozen hospitals in Kathmandu.
Tens of hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Nepal’s capital Monday to vent their anger in opposition to a choice by authorities to dam most social media platforms together with Facebook, X and YouTube, saying that the businesses had did not register and undergo authorities oversight.
Protesters pushed by way of barbed wire and compelled riot police to retreat as they surrounded the parliament constructing. Police fired tear gasoline and water cannon however had been outnumbered and sought security contained in the Parliament advanced. Police finally opened fire on the protesters.
The scenario remained tense and the federal government introduced a curfew for Monday round parliament, the federal government secretariat, presidential home and key elements of the town.
“Stop the ban on social media, stop corruption not social media,” the crowds chanted, waving the crimson and blue nationwide flags. Monday’s rally was referred to as the protest of Gen Z, typically referring to individuals born between 1995 and 2010.
About two dozen social community platforms which are extensively utilized in Nepal had been repeatedly given notices to register their corporations formally within the nation, the federal government mentioned. Those which did not register have been blocked since final week.
TikTok, Viber and three different platforms have registered and function with out interruption.
The transfer by the authorities got here as the federal government despatched a invoice for a debate in parliament that desires to make sure that social platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable.” It contains asking the businesses to nominate a liaison workplace or level within the nation.
The invoice has been extensively criticized as a software for censorship and punishing authorities opponents who voice their protests on-line. Rights teams have referred to as it an try by the federal government to curb freedom of expression and violate elementary rights.
Nepal in 2023 banned video-sharing app TikTok for disrupting “social harmony, goodwill and diffusing indecent materials.” The ban was lifted final yr after TikTok’s executives pledged to adjust to native legal guidelines. They embrace a ban of pornographic websites that was handed in 2018.