74 people are dead and thousands were injured after protests in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu erupted in early September. The chaotic demonstrations, dubbed the “Gen Z Protests”, were against government corruption and rampant youth unemployment. Ignited by a social media ban, the violence from protesters pressured three-time Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, to resign and the first female Prime Minister of Nepal to be elected.
The social media ban comes after an Aug. 17 Supreme Court decision, in which massive platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, were to be banned if they did not register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. The government’s reason for the ban was to combat misinformation and monitor online content. After 26 social media platforms failed to comply with the ministry’s deadline of Sept. 4, they were blocked throughout the country. Similarly, in 2023, TikTok was banned for disrupting “social harmony”, though it was reinstated nine months later.
The Nepalese government is not new to accusations of corruption and suppression of free speech. In 2024, multiple people were arrested for crimes related to anti-government posts they made online. In 2025, Nepal ranked 107 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. After a decade-long civil war that toppled the previous monarchy and established a republic in 2008, the Himalayan country has seen 14 governments in 17 years and ranks among the poorest countries in South Asia, with a youth unemployment rate that has stagnated around 20 percent since 2022. This year, posts regarding children of wealthy government officials flaunting designer bags and luxurious lifestyles sparked outrage online from young Nepalis, who say they can not find work.
After the social media ban, teenagers and young adults took to the streets Sept. 8 to protest against government corruption and unemployment near Nepal’s parliament building. When protesters tried to break into a restricted area near the parliament building, the army responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition. 19 died and at least 300 were injured in the violence.
On Sept. 9, protests exploded in retaliation for the deaths of the 19 protesters the day before. The youth-led demonstrations turned chaotic and violent as multiple government buildings were torched, such as the Supreme Court and the federal parliament building, along with Prime Minister Oli’s private residence. Protesters broke into the home of former Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who held the position five times. His wife and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arzu Rana Deuba, was also there. In a video, protesters are seen beating the couple while vandalizing their home. That evening, Prime Minister Oli stepped down following the violence, which left Nepal’s army to fill the power vacuum as the country scrambled for an interim leader.
Although the ban was lifted Sept. 10 and the prime minister was gone, protests continued. The curfew the Nepali Army imposed was ignored and young Nepalis continued to vandalize government buildings. In the chaos, an estimated 15,000 inmates escaped from 25 different jails across the country. An impromptu election was held on the messaging platform, Discord, with online polls showing former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sushila Karki, as the people’s choice. Karki is known for her position against government corruption and staunch stance for democracy within the country. In her first move as interim Prime Minister, she scheduled new elections for March 2026, dissolving Nepal’s parliament. Elections for a permanent prime minister will be held on March 5, 2026.
In the days following the online election, the protests slowed and the curfew was eventually lifted Sept. 13. In the aftermath of the protests, 74 are dead and at least 2,000 were injured. According to the Kathmandu Post, the damage from the protests would amount to about 3 trillion Nepalese rupees, or over 21 billion USD. Prime Minister Karki formed a judicial commission on Sept. 21 to investigate the vandalism and arson that took place during the protests. On Nepal’s Constitution Day, Prime Minister Karki said, “We must accept the fact that these protests took place because of the failure to fulfill the spirit and objectives of providing good governance and prosperity enshrined in the constitution.”
