According to local media on Monday, the Nepali government has decided to prohibit the Chinese short-form video app TikTok, citing the software’s detrimental impact on social peace. Earlier in the day, at a Cabinet meeting, the decision was made to prohibit the Chinese app.

The government of Nepal said in a report published in the Kathmandu Post that a significant portion of the populace had criticized TikTok for fostering a hate speech trend.

It is not known when the ban will be put into effect. According to Rekha Sharma, Nepal’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, “the decision to ban TikTok will be implemented shortly, but no specific deadline has been set.”

The ban order was issued just a few days after the government of Nepal mandated that social media companies, including Facebook, X (previously known as Twitter), YouTube, TikTok, and others, open offices there.

The decision was made in light of the growing volume of grievances on the lack of corporate representatives in Nepal, which makes it challenging for the government to respond to user complaints and even delete offensive material from the platforms.

Within three months of the regulations taking effect, all social media companies existing in the nation are required to establish an office or appoint a representative in Nepal.

These businesses must also register their social media accounts with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies at the same time. The ministry has the authority to take down any sites that are not properly registered under Nepalese jurisdiction if they do not comply.

On June 29, 2020, the short-video platform, which is controlled by the Chinese internet firm ByteDance, was banned in India due to concerns about national security.

When the app was first released in September 2016, it became immediately popular in India. India was one of the largest markets for TikTok outside of China, and in 2019 the platform for 15-second videos was the most downloaded app on the Android market there.