Nepal Joins India in Banning TikTok from China
KATHMANDU: Nepal said on Monday it would ban China’s TikTok, adding that “misuse” of the popular video app was disrupting social harmony and goodwill, and there was growing demand for its control.
Other countries have already partially or completely banned TikTok, with many citing security concerns.
Nepal has registered more than 1,600 TikTok-related cybercrime cases in the past four years, according to local media.
Nepal’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Rekha Sharma said the decision to ban TikTok was taken at a cabinet meeting earlier on Monday.
“Colleagues are working to close it technically,” Sharma told Reuters.
Nepal Telecom Authority Chairman Purushottam Khanal said internet service providers have been asked to shut down the app.
“Some have already closed while others will do so later today,” Khanal told Reuters.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. It has previously said such bans are “misleading” and based on “misconceptions”.
Nepal’s opposition leaders criticized the move, saying it lacked “efficiency, maturity and accountability”.
“Other social media also have many unwanted materials. What needs to be done is to regulate and not restrict them,” Pradeep Gyawali, former foreign minister and leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), said.
Nepal’s neighbor India banned TikTok and dozens of other apps from Chinese developers in June 2020, saying they could compromise national security and integrity.
Another South Asian country, Pakistan, has banned the app at least four times over what the country’s government calls its “immoral and inappropriate” content.
