Nepal is the 8th country in 2025 to issue a social media ban – provoking an over 8,000% spike in VPN sign-ups

Nepali journalists display placards calling on the government to backtrack on its decision to impose a ban on social media, citing non-compliance with its order to get registered, during a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 7, 2025.

Nepal is just the latest in a long list of countries shutting down access to social media platforms during times of political instability – and at least the 8th nation to do so in 2025 so far.

Authorities in Nepal began enforcing a ban on all major social media apps and websites starting from Thursday, September 4. 26 social media platforms were impacted, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. The government justified the ban by saying that these companies failed to comply with local registration rules – TechCrunch reported – as well as the ban serving as a way of tackling fake news, hate speech, and online fraud, according to the BBC.