Meta to face ban in Nepal if not registered within 7 days, warns Minister Gurung

KATHMANDU: Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has issued a stern warning to tech giant Meta, stating that it will be banned in Nepal if it fails to register within the next seven days.

Speaking at a departmental-level interaction program on the Right to Information organized by the National Information Commission in Kathmandu on Friday, Minister Gurung expressed strong dissatisfaction with Meta’s repeated refusal to register its operations in Nepal.

“We’ve issued notices multiple times, but Meta continues to ignore them. The deadline of the third notice expired just a few days ago. If they do not register within the next seven days, we will proceed to ban them in Nepal,” the Minister declared.

Gurung emphasized that Meta, which owns Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, earns a significant amount of revenue from Nepal and therefore must be registered and pay taxes accordingly.

“Billions are leaving the country through their platforms. Every hour, our money flows into Meta’s offices abroad. Facebook is the most used platform in Nepal—how can they operate here without registration and tax compliance?” he questioned.

The Minister criticized Meta’s alleged arrogance, claiming the company had belittled Nepal by comparing the country’s GDP to its own revenue. “They say Nepal is smaller than their company. But a nation’s sovereignty cannot be measured in money,” Gurung asserted.

He added that so far, only TikTok, Viber, and WeTalk have officially registered in Nepal, while Meta remains non-compliant.

The government, he said, has made several attempts to contact the company, but has received no cooperation. “We went looking for them. They act as if they’re above nations. But we cannot let that undermine our sovereignty,” he said.