You may or may not have seen the news surrounding the current state of Nepal where the government was just taken over by its citizens. Large scale protests have taken place across the nation with it being nicknamed as the Gen Z protests. Many believe this anger began on September 4, 2025, due to the social media ban that affected 26 platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Youtube, and Snapchat. According to the people of Nepal, this is far from the truth.
This anger started way before the social media ban. Its origin came with the public’s frustration with their politician’s lavish lifestyles. Before the protests, the average Nepali made about 1400 U.S. dollars each year, while the politicians of Nepal and their children displayed their wealth continuously on social media. Allegedly, there was a ton of corruption inside the government where the people’s tax money and foreign aid was used to fund said lifestyles. So why was their final straw the social media ban?
The apps that the government shut down were key communication tools when it came to the dissemination of information surrounding the corruption of the politicians. Additionally, 20% of the youth is unemployed, so many had to resort to working in online spaces. When the government took these apps away, the people of Nepal felt as though their free speech and income was stripped away. Because of this, they decided to protest peacefully in hopes that the government would listen to what they had to say. Unfortunately, one of the police responses to the protests led to 19 students being killed. This is what caused the protests and videos that have been shown on international tv.
The protests grew and became more intense with people beating up politicians, storming the residences of the nation’s wealthiest, and setting the federal parliament building on fire. What’s even crazier is as of September 10th, according to the Nepalese police, more than 13,500 criminals had escaped from prisons nationwide. Now, some claim that these criminals were falsely put into jail due to the corruption of the government while others worry that they will unleash crime into the streets. There have been many debates on social media and in real life due to this.
Aria Kim, a senior, prefers a more peaceful way of protesting for one’s rights. She said, “While I don’t know enough to have an opinion about it, violence is not the answer.”
Similarly, Amna Raja, another senior, said “There’s a lot going on right now. I just hope people are okay.” So, did they go too far? Were these acts necessary to ensure change? We can ask these questions all we want, but it’s already too late to think about the consequences of all the possible paths.
On September 9th, the Prime Minister of Nepal, K. P. Sharma Oli, along with other government officials resigned. As a way to elect an interim prime minister, 100,000 users went on Discord to debate and hold discussions. After several polls, Sushila Karki, a politician and author known for her stances against corruption in Nepal, was sworn in as interim prime minister making her the first female to ever hold that title in Nepal. Her time as Prime Minister will last until March 5, 2026, when the official election is set to take place.
On September 13th, after 72 deaths and more than 2,100 injuries, the protests finally ended and calmness returned to the streets of Nepal. As of this moment, Prime Minister Karki, has been said to be visiting injured protesters in hospitals. Many online users have taken this revolution as an example for their fellow citizens such as South Africa, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. What made this revolution different compared to others in the past was that protesters took down the government in only two days, and those two days brought Nepal into the history books.
