Nepal’s government has banned the popular social media app TikTok, saying it was disrupting “social harmony”.
More than 1,600 TikTok-related cyber crime cases have been registered over the last four years in Nepal, according to local media reports.
The South Asian country’s foreign minister Narayan Prakash Saud said the Chinese-owned video app would be banned immediately following a cabinet meeting on Monday.
He said: “The government has decided to ban TikTok as it was necessary to regulate the use of the social media platform that was disrupting social harmony, goodwill and flow of indecent materials.”
He added that to make social media platforms accountable the government has asked companies to register and open a liaison office in Nepal, pay taxes and abide by the country’s laws and regulations.
It was unclear what triggered the ban or if TikTok had refused to comply with Nepal’s requests.
TikTok has been banned in several countries, with many citing security concerns about the Chinese app.
The UK and US governments have banned the app on government phones, as has the European Parliament, European Commission and EU Council.
TikTok has repeatedly denied it has ever shared data with the Chinese government and said it would not do so if asked.
Other countries to ban it from government devices include Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Taiwan.
Nepal’s neighbour India banned TikTok over fears it could compromise national security and integrity.
Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership banned it in 2022 on the grounds of protecting young people from “being misled”.
Pakistan has banned it over what the government terms its “immoral and indecent” content, while Somalia banned it over concerns about terror-related content.
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TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has faced scrutiny in several countries over concerns Beijing could use the app to harvest user data or advance its interests.
TikTok has previously said such bans are “misguided” and based on “misconceptions”.
