The Supreme Court administration on Sunday, September 7, declined to register all 10 writ petitions challenging the government’s decision to indefinitely ban more than two dozen social media platforms.
Registrar Man Bahadur Karki decided to reject the petitions, court Spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala confirmed. “Of the 10 petitions filed, all have been rejected,” he said.
The government announced the ban last Thursday after several platforms, including Facebook, Youtube and X, failed to register in Nepal despite repeated requests.
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The government introduced the “Directive on Regulating the Use of Social Media” in 2023.
The rejection note cited an extended full bench order of September 29, 2024, which required all social media platforms to be registered with an authorised body before operation and to allow monitoring of unwanted content. “Since the ministry’s September 4, 2025 letter inactivating unregistered platforms was issued in line with the directive, it cannot be annulled. Therefore, this petition filed under the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court cannot be registered,” the note read.
While the writs have been rejected, petitioners can still file fresh challenges against the decision.
Citing the full bench order, the Cabinet decision and the directive, the government began shutting down unregistered platforms last Thursday.
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