The Nepal government decided to ban the Chinese-owned social networking platform TikTok. The Nepal administration took this crucial decision today, November 13, citing the platform”s negative effects on social harmony. The Kathmandu Post reported that this decision was taken in a cabinet meeting that took place earlier in the day.

“The decision to ban TikTok will be implemented shortly, but no specific deadline has been set,” The Himalayan Times quoted Rekha Sharma, Nepal”s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, as saying. Rekha Sharma also reportedly said that necessary measures to this ban will be made by the Ministry of Communications. According to the Kathmandu Post, 1,647 cybercrime cases have been reported on TikTok in the past four years. The report also stated that several people in Nepal have severely criticised TikTok for promoting hate speech.

The Nepal government made this move days after approving the new guidelines to regulate social media platforms. The guidelines, which were approved on November 9, aim to ensure social media platforms are not misused to promote hatred. As per the new guidelines, social media platforms operating in Nepal should set up their offices in the country. The platforms are also required to renew their licenses every three years. Notably, the government will also have the power to shut down platforms that are not registered in Nepal.

In recent months, several governments around the world have banned TikTok, owned by a Chinese company named ByteDance. Countries are restricting the platform, citing different reasons like indecency, security, and privacy. India banned TikTok in June 2020, citing national security issues. The US, EU, and Canada have also imposed bans on the platform. Taliban-led Afghanistan banned TikTok in September 2022, and the Taliban said that the move was to protect younger generations in the country from bad influences. However, most countries banned the video-sharing platform due to concerns to ByteDance’s access to personal information and potentially government secrets.