Nepal lifts ban on video-sharing platform TikTok

Nepal lifts ban on video-sharing platform TikTok

Nepal has lifted its ban on TikTok
Nepal has lifted its ban on TikTok. Photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP/File
Source: AFP

Nepal on Thursday lifted its ban on TikTok nine months after suspending the popular video-sharing platform for disturbing "social harmony", the communications minister said.

TikTok, which has around one billion monthly users, has faced restrictions in many countries for allegedly breaking data rules and for its potentially harmful impact on youth.

"A decision to remove the ban on TikTok has been made," Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The decision comes over a week after TikTok's South Asia division contacted the minister saying that it would follow Nepal's regulations, and requesting that the ban be lifted, according to ministry spokesman Gajendra Kumar Thakur.

Nepal had suspended TikTok in November last year, days after introducing a directive requiring social media platforms operating in the country to set up offices.

Read also

Cosplay and queues at Germany gamers gathering

It also followed an anti-government demonstration, whose leader was popular on TikTok.

The ban was condemned not just by free speech advocates but by the owners of popular accounts whose lives were transformed by the platform, which had about 2.2 million users in the country.

"The news makes me very happy," Anjana Aryal, who went from homemaker to entrepreneur by sharing recipes on TikTok, told AFP.

"The ban had really affected many creators like me who had benefitted from the app."

Since the ban, Aryal and other prominent Nepali content creators had seen their revenue streams dry up, jeopardising their livelihoods.

"Many switched to Instagram and Facebook, but they don't have the same kind of reach. With TikTok back, I will be very busy again," she said.

Advocate Dinesh Tripathi, who had challenged the decision in court, said that the decision was a "victory for free speech".

Read also

South Korean pet care goes high-tech with AI diagnostics

"Free speech is integral to democracy. This is a good decision but we must stay vigilant against such attacks," he said.

In July, Nepal's Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, 72, was sworn in as prime minister after his Communist Party forged a coalition government with the centre-left Nepali Congress, shifting power in the country's often volatile parliament.

Owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet, but multiple countries have sought to tighten controls on social media due to their potential impact.

The United States recently sued TikTok, saying it had placed the safety of millions of children in jeopardy by collecting their personal data without parental permission.

TikTok is also battling a US law that calls on its Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the video platform or else face a nationwide ban on the app.

New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.