The announcement came after a cabinet meeting. Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud said the TikTok app would be banned indefinitely.
“ The government decided to ban TikTok because it was necessary to regulate the use of the social media platform, which is disrupting social harmony, goodwill and the flow of indecent materials,” Mr. Saud said.
Meanwhile, at a press conference on November 14, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma also gave a similar reason.
Telecoms chief Purushottam Khanal asked internet service providers to cut off access to the app.
WorldLink Communications – the country's largest internet service provider – has already complied and others are expected to follow suit soon.
The minister further revealed that to hold social media platforms accountable, Nepal has asked companies to register and open liaison offices in Nepal, pay taxes and comply with the country's laws and regulations.
It's unclear what led to the ban or whether TikTok refused to comply with the request.
TikTok, a subsidiary of China's ByteDance, faces growing scrutiny around the world .
Countries like the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada have banned the app on public phones even though TikTok has repeatedly denied sharing data with China and will not do so.
More than 1,600 cases of cybercrime related to TikTok have been recorded in Nepal over the past four years, Reuters reported, leading to growing demands to control the app.
Three years ago, India banned TikTok and several other popular Chinese apps for “threatening sovereignty and territorial integrity.” At the time, the platform had about 120 million users in India.
(According to AP, CNN)
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