Nepal lifts ban on social media app TikTok after 10 months of restrictions

With some pre-conditions, Nepal has lifted its ban on TikTok, effective Friday, which was initially imposed on November 12 last year

Nepal has lifted the ban of popular social media app TikTok, effective Friday, months after the tech giant faced restrictions in the country due to concerns over “distributing” social harmony.

The ban, imposed on November 12 last year, was lifted with some pre-conditions, a notice by Nepal Telecommunication, the government-owned body, read. On the decision to ban the app, the Nepal government had argued that the social networking site was responsible for disturbing social harmony in the country, which invited widespread criticism from the general public.

"This is to notify all the Internet Service Providers and Mobile Service Providers that the ban imposed on TikTok has been withdrawn,” the order read. The notice comes days after a cabinet decision on August 22 to lift the ban with certain pre-conditions.

According to local daily Himalayan Times, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had instructed that all social networking sites be treated equally and that proper regulations be put in place.

Tik Tok ban in India

TikTok, owned by Chinese internet tech firm ByteDance, has faced scrutiny in several countries over fears that Beijing could use the app to collect user data and claimed it could be a threat to national security. The social media platform is banned in India from June 2020.

In addition to TikTok, the Narendra Modi government banned over 50 other Chinese mobile apps, citing privacy concerns and threats to India's sovereignty and security issues. The ban followed days after the Galwan clash between India and China, an incident that caused relations between the two nations to plunge to their lowest point in decades.

Many people had supported the Centre's move and called for boycott of Chinese goods following the deadly confrontation on June 15, 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers had laid down their lives.

Since the incident, India-China have faced increased tensions on the Ladakh border.