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Nepal has officially ended its TikTok ban after securing a game-changing agreement with the app to intensify cyber crime prevention efforts, marking a significant shift in the country’s digital landscape.
TikTok Ban Lifted After Nine-Month Freeze
On Thursday, Nepal removed its ban on TikTok, a popular video sharing app owned by Chinese company, after more than nine months of forbidding it for interfering with "social harmony and goodwill."
The decision was made during a cabinet meeting, according to an anonymous government source, after the business committed to working with Nepal's law enforcement to tackle criminality on TikTok and control its content.
Upon hearing the news, TikTok expressed its satisfaction with the decision, Reuters shares.
In November, the app was prohibited by Nepal's previous administration due to concerns about its potential misuse. Prior to that, the nation in the Himalayas had recorded over 1,600 incidences of cybercrime involving TikTok over the course of four years.
Protests Highlighted Impact of TikTok Ban
Protests broke out on a sporadic basis as users took to the streets, claiming that the ban had an economic impact and had silenced a platform for free expression. The Internet Service Providers' Association of Nepal said that 2.2 million people in Nepal were using TikTok at the time.
Partnership With Cyber Bureau Lifts TikTok Ban
Per US News, in an effort to combat cybercrime and remove disturbing content—which has tragically contributed to some users' tragic deaths—Nepal approached TikTok about establishing a coordinating section to work with the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police around the clock.
“Prompt, real-time identification of users can be an effective tool to nab offenders and discourage misuse of the technology,” said Dipak Raj Awasti, spokesman for the bureau, in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
Concerns over national security and user privacy have led some other nations to prohibit TikTok as a whole or in part.
