{"id":210768,"date":"2025-09-08T17:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210768\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:49:15","slug":"police-kill-at-least-17-in-nepal-during-unrest-over-social-media-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210768\/","title":{"rendered":"Police kill at least 17 in Nepal during unrest over social media regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) \u2014 Police in Nepal\u2019s capital of Kathmandu<\/a> opened fire Monday on demonstrators protesting a government attempt to regulate social media<\/a> that blocked some of the world\u2019s largest platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube. At least 17 people were killed.<\/p>\n

Rallies swept the streets around the Parliament<\/a> building, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of people angry at authorities who said the companies had failed to register and submit to government oversight. At least 145 people were wounded, officials said.<\/p>\n

Protesters pushed through barbed wire and forced riot police to retreat inside the Parliament complex.<\/p>\n

The gunfire unfolded as the government pursues a broader attempt to regulate social media with a bill aimed at ensuring the platforms are \u201cproperly managed, responsible and accountable.\u201d The proposal has been widely criticized as a tool for censorship and for punishing government opponents who voice their protests online.<\/p>\n

About two dozen social networks that are widely used in Nepal<\/a> were repeatedly given notices to register their companies officially in the Himalayan nation, the government said. Those that failed to register have been blocked since last week.<\/p>\n

Neither Google, which owns YouTube, nor Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Elon Musk\u2019s X platform did not respond either.<\/p>\n

The video-sharing app TikTok, Viber and three other platforms have registered and operated without interruption.<\/p>\n

The death toll was announced by police official Shekhar Khanal. He said 28 officers were among the wounded, as smaller protests continued into late Monday evening.<\/p>\n

The situation remained tense, and the government announced a curfew around Parliament, the government secretariat, the presidential house and key parts of the city.<\/p>\n

Seven of those killed and scores of wounded were received at the National Trauma Center, the country\u2019s main hospital in the heart of Kathmandu.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of them are in serious condition and appear to have been shot in the head and chest,\u201d said Dr. Badri Risa. Families waited anxiously outside for news of their relatives while people lined up to donate blood.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop the ban on social media. Stop corruption, not social media,\u201d the crowds outside Parliament chanted, waving the red and blue national flags. Monday\u2019s rally was called the protest of Gen Z, which generally refers to people born between 1995 and 2010.<\/p>\n

\"Protestors<\/p>\n

\n Protestors clash with the riot police outside the Parliament building in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)\n <\/p>\n

Protestors clash with the riot police outside the Parliament building in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\"Riot<\/p>\n

\n Riot police stand guard outside the Parliament building as they clash with the protesters in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)\n <\/p>\n

Riot police stand guard outside the Parliament building as they clash with the protesters in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters shout slogans as they gather outside the Parliament building in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)<\/p>\n

Protesters shout slogans as they gather outside the Parliament building in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters shout slogans in front of an armored vehicle outside the Parliament building in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)<\/p>\n

Protesters shout slogans in front of an armored vehicle outside the Parliament building in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Niranjan Shrestha)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s proposed bill includes asking the companies to appoint a liaison office or a point of contact in the country. Rights groups have called it an attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression and fundamental rights.<\/p>\n

Nepal in 2023 banned TikTok<\/a> for disrupting \u201csocial harmony, goodwill and diffusing indecent materials.\u201d The ban was lifted last year after TikTok\u2019s<\/a> executives pledged to comply with local laws, including a ban of pornographic sites that was passed in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) \u2014 Police in Nepal\u2019s capital of Kathmandu opened fire Monday on demonstrators protesting a government…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":210769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7060,13214,64,66,57,59,115555,7062,65805,50,80,402,345,158,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-210768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-alphabet","9":"tag-asia-pacific","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-elon-musk","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-inc","14":"tag-kathmandu","15":"tag-meta-platforms","16":"tag-nepal","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-protests-and-demonstrations","20":"tag-social-media","21":"tag-technology","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115169943032289037","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}