Nepal bans TikTok, saying it disturbs ‘social harmony’

Other governments, including the US, have taken steps to restrict the app, often citing security concerns.

Nepal said last week it would require social media companies to set up liaison offices in the country. Picture: Getty Images

Nepal is banning TikTok over concerns that the video platform is “disturbing social harmony”, joining a growing list of countries that have partially or completely banned the popular Chinese-owned app.

Nepal’s cabinet, led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, decided to ban TikTok on Monday, said Rekha Sharma, the minister of communication and information technology.

“Through social-media platform TikTok, there’s a continuous dissemination of content disturbing our social harmony and family structures,” said Sharma.

Nepal has faced increasing problems with TikTok, including cases of cyberbullying, said Netra Prasad Subedi, spokesman for the IT ministry. Over the past four years, more than 1600 cybercrime cases on TikTok have been reported to authorities, said Kuber Kadayat, a Nepal police spokesman. He said most of the complaints were related to sharing nude photos or financial extortion.

Last week, the government said it would require social media companies running platforms used in Nepal to set up liaison offices in the country. Kadayat said social-media companies have been slow to respond to Nepal’s authorities when they request data or send a complaint to them. “Victims are having to wait a long time to get justice,” he said.

TikTok and Beijing-based ByteDance, which owns the video-sharing app, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

In recent years, other countries and government agencies have taken steps to restrict TikTok, often citing security concerns when doing so.

India banned TikTok -- citing threats to national security -- along with dozens of other Chinese apps in 2020 after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops on the countries’ disputed border.

In the U.S., the federal government and most states have implemented similar bans on government employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices. Earlier this year, Canada banned TikTok on government-issued devices, citing an “unacceptable” level of risk to privacy and security. The European Commission, the European Union’s executive branch, has also banned its staff from using the app on work-issued devices.

TikTok has said it is unprofitable in large part because it is spending billions of dollars to silo its U.S. and European operations from its Chinese parent company, including moving user data to local servers. The moves are aimed at soothing the concerns of politicians and avoiding bans.

Nepal isn’t the first to cite concerns about the content shared on the app. Pakistan has banned the app multiple times after authorities received complaints of indecent content, later lifting the bans after receiving promises from TikTok to better control the content. In August, Senegal blocked access to the app citing hateful and subversive content being shared on it.

In recent years, TikTok has emerged as one of the main platforms people use in Nepal -- for entertainment, promoting their businesses and sharing their political views. Activists and some senior politicians criticized the government’s decision, saying that while concerns about the misuse of the social-media platform were legitimate, a complete ban wasn’t the answer.

“The government’s intention is to stop this important platform for communication and expression and to limit Nepali citizens’ opportunities to engage in online discussions,” dozens of media rights activists said in a joint statement.

Nepal’s ban will take a few days to go into effect while the government works through the necessary technical and legal processes, said Subedi.

The Wall Street Journal