It’s usually still the monsoon season in early September in Nepal, with rainfall gradually tapering off as the month progresses. The weather turns pleasant as the country approaches one of its biggest festivals, Dashain. Tourist arrivals peak at this time of the year.
There was nothing unusual.
What, however, was unusual was this: in a sweeping move, the government on September 4 imposed a ban on 26 social media platforms.
The digital space was abuzz with murmurs, where the youth discussed the government ban and the ills plaguing the country. Corruption, misgovernance, and nepotism dominated these conversations, often directed at Nepal’s political elites. These were not new complaints — but what was different was the medium and the tone: sharper, more irreverent, and largely unmediated by traditional political structures.
Gen Z had not yet properly entered Nepali phraseology, but its presence was already being felt — online, dispersed, and politically unanchored.
