(reposting as a top level comment, thanks to original poster)

I was there a few hours ago. It was a class struggle, but it was bound to be spun up as "kids don't get facebook and throw tantrum".

This is all so disheartening.

14 people dead from so-called "non-lethal" means. How do 14 people end up dead without the police coming with intent to do harm?

Edit: And the protest was against corrupt politicians, not social media ban.

It reads like: citizens have been protesting the government using social media, government desperate to curb dissent bans social media, dissent is now on the streets..

Or maybe it's as straightforward as the media has been reporting.

https://www.timesnownews.com/viral/why-nepo-kid-campaign-is-...

The government framed the ban as a measure against "unregistered social media" platforms. However, major companies like Facebook and YouTube have been registered and paying taxes for years. These companies did not agree to the government's overly controlling bill, which had not even been passed into law. The K.P. Oli government attempted to bypass a public vote and enforce it as a directive, threatening non-compliant apps with bans.

https://www.law-democracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Nep...

I accept that there is corruption and manipulation by the government, but experience tells us also that these companies may be avoiding taxes towards zero.

A bit about Nepal—the government here is run by a bunch of old farts. They are deeply corrupt and will do anything, legal or not, to protect their positions and continue embezzling the national budget. They lack accountability because they know they can/and have gotten away with anything. Example of a recent one [1]. Their children live lavishly, flexing their designer bags and watches, while the commoners struggle working tough jobs overseas just to survive.

They know that by controlling social media—as they already did with TikTok—they can censor any news about their corruption (which is a norm here) easily and keep the people in dark and in their favor. Now, they want Meta and Google to comply with their agenda and with the election coming, they need this bad!

This protest was never about a “social media ban.” It was against years and years of corruption, embezzlement and censorship. It was supposed to be peaceful. But politics here is a dirty game, and these veterans are seasoned pros. They hired goons to infiltrate the peaceful crowds, cause chaos and damage public property—a very old tactic here. That is how the demonstration spiraled out of control.

If you want to hear the voices of real people, look at r/Nepal and r/NepalSocial on Reddit.

And ask yourself—do you really think people are ready to risk their lives just for social media?

[1] https://old.reddit.com/r/NepalSocial/comments/1n9ra2q/hit_an...

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism Hardcover

https://www.amazon.com/Careless-People-Cautionary-Power-Idea...

As with pouring water, the world keeps spinning, and the strife goes on.

Here's the drive link from the protest, recorded on camera.

Compared to nearby poor nations, Nepal is safe and its people are perceived to be welcoming. It's the only serious candidate for being a ski-nation in all of mainland Asia. If Nepal wanted, it could transform itself into a Bali style tourist destination and ascend towards being a middle economy. Unlike India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which have to solve 1-billion-people scale problems, at 30 million, Nepal can resort to scaled down solutions.

Nepal's refusal to leverage the (few) advantages of its geography is baffling.

The internal politics are even more bizarre. As a communist-adjacent nation, it has a closed off economy with deep suspicion towards free markets. Yet, the national messaging alternates between blaming India or China for all their problems. The local populace (like every populace) eats this up. From my observations, neither nation affects Nepal's economics much. (national security is a separate conversation)

> protests reflect young people's widespread frustration with government action to tackle corruption and boost economic opportunities.

South Asia is coming off a recent protest->overthrow movement in Bangladesh. The youth protesters had similar complaints. Yet, the outcome was an even less democratic system which now owed favors to the violent parts of the society that helped complete the ouster. Similarly, Nepal has a history of political instability and violent ousters, most of which had led of very little economic change.

The youth's complaints are valid and I support their protests. However, do the protesters have an outcome in mind ? They want an improved economy. But, will they be okay with opening Nepal up to free markets ? This may mean selling resort building contracts to major western ski companies. It may mean opening unsafe sweatshops for Adidas to make shoes there. It may mean resource exploration by foreign mining companies.

I say this, because this is a South Asian disease. We want our nations to have a strong economy. But, economic liberalization can sometimes look like colonization, and this hurts the ego of proud global-south nations. We want progress, while keeping all foreign influence at bay. We want social welfare, but the nation is bankrupt. It's paradoxical. When our nations do move towards markets, it happens at gunpoint (1991) or with steep political costs (Farm Bill, GST) to the the incumbent.

Not sure what the solution is here. But, the last decade has made me suspicious towards protest movements that do not have positive policy outcomes in mind. The student's anger is valid, but impressionable students are the the time-honored vanguard used by more powerful opposition to trigger coups.

Quite ironic to choose this day to start trying to make an entire nation digitally illiterate.

No kings.