Kathmandu is on edge not because of “apps,” but because a generation raised on the promise of democracy and mobility has collided with an economy and political order that keep shutting every door.
It is tempting – especially from afar – to narrate this as a clash over digital freedoms. That would be analytically thin. For Gen-Z Nepalis, platforms are not just entertainment; they are job boards, news wires, organizing tools, and social lifelines. Shutting them off – after years of economic drift – felt like collective punishment. But the deeper story is structural: Nepal’s growth has been stabilized by remittances rather than transformed by domestic investment capable of producing dignified work. In FY 2024/25, the Department of Foreign Employment issued 839,266 exit labor permits – staggering out-migration for a country of ~30 million. Remittances hovered around 33% of GDP in 2024, among the highest ratios worldwide. These numbers speak to survival, not social progress; they are a referendum on a model that exports its youth to low-wage contracts while importing basics, and that depends on patronage rather than productivity
Following Nepal’s four-year IMF Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program, the government faced pressure to boost domestic revenue. This led to a new Digital Services Tax and stricter VAT rules for foreign e-service providers, but when major platforms refused to register, the state escalated by blocking them. This move, which began as a tax enforcement effort, quickly became a tool of digital control, and it occurred as the public was already dealing with rising fuel costs and economic hardships driven by the program’s push for fiscal consolidation.
That the crackdown and its political finale unfolded under a CPN (UML) prime minister makes this a strategic calamity for Nepal’s left. Years of factional splits, opportunistic coalitions, and policy drift had already eroded credibility among the young. When a left-branded government narrows civic space instead of widening material opportunity, it cedes the moral terrain to actors who thrive on anti-party cynicism – individual-cult politics and a resurgent monarchist right. The latter has mobilized visibly this year; with Oli’s resignation, it will seek to portray itself as the guarantor of “order,” even as its economic vision remains thin and regressive. This is the danger: the very forces most hostile to egalitarian transformation can capitalize on left misgovernance to expand their footprint.
Opposition statements recognized the larger canvas sooner than the government did. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) expressed condolences, urged action on anti-corruption demands, and called for removing “sanctions on social networks.” The CPN (Unified Socialist) and CPN (Maoist Center) statements condemned the repression, demanded an impartial investigation, and linked digital curbs to failures on jobs and governance.
Much more at the link, give People's Dispatch the click they deserve for good work here.
I'd like to add some more points to this discussion. Nepal is a country with the median age of 25, youth unemployment rate around 25 percent, and an incredibly inefficient government. Western media trying to frame it as a protest over a social media ban is laughable to say the least. It didn't help that the PM decided it would be a good idea to: mock the youth for, and I quote, "Valuing the jobs of a handful over national sovereignity" when they complained about the restrictions on social media, he then proceeded to let the police to open-fire at protestors, and not peacefully resign when it was clear that shit wouldn't settle down. There is a reason police don't use lethal force on protestors but here the geniuses in charge decided it would be fine to shoot kids.
There have been massive fucking scandals from the highest echelons of the political sphere in the past few years, some egregious ones being: scamming 800 people by presenting them as Bhutanese refugees to resettle in other countries, perpetrated by the home secretary and very likely linked to the minister of foreign affairs, transferring government land to private ownership by a collusion between members of the Congress and CPN ML party and big business owners.
Imagine living in a country where you can't find a job, the GDP per capita is half that of India, politicians are clearly in their posts to squeeze as much money from it as fucking possible and, on top of that, the children of politicians, even those of lower ranks, are regularly flaunting their wealth on social media.
Trying to present the social media bill itself as logical would be valid if not for the fact that it is clearly a subterfuge to allow the government to remove things they don't like, things that they deem, in many vague words, "violations against national security, integrity and hate speech concerns" or things that don't "align with cultural values". Reminder that the previous tiktok ban was under the pretext of "protecting social harmony" and blocking "harmful content and influence on youth".
Nevertheless, I am reasonably certain at this point that after the first few burnings the revolt got co-opted, which resulted in the release of thousands of prisoners including the clown Lamichhane and a break-in into a police station that lead to guns getting out — he was in prison for embezzling cooperative funds alongside a group of other polticians and cooperative owners by the way, this shows how rotten the entire establishment is.
Also, there is no concrete leadership so a group of zoomies are in a live call in a discord server — fucking lol — about what to do going forward, with some incredibly naïve takes. Another thing that points to a three letter agency psyop is the fact that people refer to "decisions made by Gen-Z", something without a figure-head for some reason; and I'm pretty sure that it doesn't refer to the discord call zoomers.
Okay I had the same impression until I actually listen to their talk. Having such serious talk in Discord is beyond cringe but they are actually Gen-Z, and thats where they are.
On the discussion side, it was a disaster for few hours but then everything started getting organized. It was less a discord and more like a radio talk show. People with real idea came forth to share with maybe 10k active listen on discord, and more than than in FB live pages.
I had been worried about no any organization yet, but it is slowly but surely forming as we look their discord talk with contempt. They have managed to reach out to all potential candidates, have a vote on whom to decide on and then went with the winner.
There were critique of the chosen candidate, a call for Balen to step up and generally a sane discussion on Balen's unwilling to come forth and its effect. He shouldn't focus on interim government patter but the upcoming election.
The call against corruption isn't just a surface level platform, there were discussion on systematic change with corruption as the core rot and just how integrated it has become with the Parliamentary system. Now there is a real agenda for the Parliament to be dissolved, move away from parliamentary system and the most surprising of all, not repeat Bangladesh.
Don't get me wrong, they are not Marxist or even leftist but they don't inherently have to be just wanting accurate analysis of the world will move you to Marxism and that is what I hope to see and maybe contribute a bit.
Overview of topic covered today in discord . Maybe there might be something here. I hope so else its either Durga Prasai or Rabi.
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