Kathmandu – After the seven-day deadline given for registration in Nepal expired on Thursday, the government is currently  in discussions about shutdown of  social media platforms that did not come into contact within this period.

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology had issued a seven-day notice for social media companies to reach out for registration, which ended on Thursday.

Amid uncertainty over whether the Cabinet’s decision to gradually ban such platforms in Nepal will be implemented, leaders of the ruling CPN-UML party have openly expressed their support for imposing restrictions.

UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel stated that social media platforms failing to register would be shut down, but could reopen once they completed registration.

Similarly, UML Deputy General Secretary and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s chief advisor Bishnu Rimal also wrote on social media sites that unregistered platforms would be closed.

However, leaders of the major coalition partner Nepali Congress have not expressed any official position or reaction on the matter.

Although the government had introduced directives last year ordering registration, so far only TikTok and Viber have complied. After Telegram was banned, it has now entered the registration process.

Popular social media platforms like Facebook,  X , instragram, have refused to register in Nepal as per the Social Media Operation Directive 2080. Especially,  the Facebook's parent company 'Meta' argued that Nepal lacked the necessary laws and that certain provisions in the directive were objectionable.

Meta  particularly opposed provisions requiring them to delete content upon government orders, saying such requirements made registration in Nepal impossible. It had also argued that many provisions of the directive lacked a proper legal basis, which is why they refused registration earlier.

The directive requires social media operators to register in Nepal within three months, appoint a local representative after registration, and establish an office in Nepal. Once established, they would be obliged to comply with the government’s directives and the country’s existing laws.

It also requires platforms to remove any content if ordered by the government. However, company representatives have said such provisions are not feasible under the directive.