Nepal lifts TikTok ban after blocking app over ‘social harmony’ concerns

Move comes weeks after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn into office following the collapse of the previous government.

Nepal has lifted its ban on TikTok less than a year after blocking the Chinese-owned application out of its stated concern for “social harmony”.

Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung announced the decision on Thursday following a cabinet meeting.

The move comes after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, who was sworn in last month after the collapse of the previous coalition government, issued a directive calling for the equal treatment of all social networking platforms, state-run National News Agency reported.

Al Jazeera understands that the decision was made after TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, communicated with the Nepalese government in recent weeks to assure it that it would abide by all legal requirements, promote digital safety, and establish a designated channel for content-related requests from authorities.

TikTok said it was pleased to see the ban lifted.

“The creativity and passion of our community has brought joy to households across Nepal and opened vital economic opportunities to incredibly talented creators and businesses. We’re excited to be able to continue enabling Nepali voices and creativity as we work to support the success story of Nepal,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

The previous government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal banned the app in November, citing the spread of content that “disturbs social harmony and disrupts family structures and social relations”.

TikTok, one of the world’s most popular social media platforms with more than one billion monthly users, has been slapped with restrictions in dozens of countries amid concerns about its effect on young people and alleged national security risks.

Nepal’s neighbour India banned the app outright in 2020 along with dozens of other Chinese-developed apps following violent skirmishes along the India-China border.

Earlier this month, the United States Department of Justice sued TikTok for allegedly violating legislation that requires platforms to obtain parental consent to collect the personal information of users under 13.