The September 2025 protests were driven by tech-savvy youth angry at job shortages and flagrant corruption by an ageing political elite.
Now parties across the political divide are tapping social media to push their agendas and woo voters, especially the young, including a surge of people registering to cast their ballot for the first time.
Internet analytics site DataReportal estimates more than 56 percent of Nepal’s 30 million people are online, including 14.8 million Facebook users and around 4.3 million on Instagram. About 2.2 million are on TikTok, according to the Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal.
“Disinformation remains a top concern that could undermine the integrity of the election process,” said Ammaarah Nilafdeen of the US-based Center for the Study of Organized Hate.
“Nepal… is grappling with the scale of the threat that disinformation poses to society and democracy at large.”