KATHMANDU, NEPAL — This city was rocked by violent protests early this month, when Nepalis — mostly young adults — raged against the government over a handful of issues, including corruption and nepotism. Dozens of people died from gunshots fired by police and other violence as government offices burned.
But the proximate cause for the protests was what many Nepalis view as an attack on freedom of speech. Twenty-six social media sites had gone dark after the government banned them for what it said was a failure to comply with registration requirements. The ban was lifted days into the protests and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned, to be replaced by Sushila Karki.
While what is perceived as a general erosion of freedom of speech sparked the riots, journalists say press freedom has consistently — and increasingly — been under attack. They say authorities misuse laws to quash their reporting and shield powerful figures from scrutiny.
In one case that has captured wide attention in recent months, a Kathmandu District Court in June issued a warrant for the arrest of journalist Dil Bhusan Pathak, who hosts the YouTube show “Tough Talk.” In a video on the channel, Pathak questions the alleged involvement of Jaiveer Singh Deuba, son of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, in the purchase of Hilton Hotel in Kathmandu, which was among the buildings torched during the protests this month.
Pathak was charged under Nepal’s Electronic Transactions Act with spreading hate and jealousy through his reporting. However, although the 2008 law regulates content published on electronic media, it is Press Council Nepal that handles complaints against journalists.
Based on this, Nepal’s High Court ruled against Pathak’s arrest, saying the case falls under the Press Council’s authority. But the police still tried to detain him.
Due process ignored
Press freedom watchdogs say this is just one example of how the Nepali government has ignored due process and misused cybercrime laws to silence journalists who scrutinize powerful people.
“There is a big difference between the law related to cybercrime and media laws,” says Bhimarjun Acharaya, a constitutional expert. When a journalist makes a comment in their capacity as a journalist, media laws and not cybercrime laws should apply, he says.
Prithivi Subba Gurung, a former government spokesperson, denies allegations that authorities misuse the law to target the media. “No journalist should be punished for writing news against the government or ministers,” Subba says.
But, he says, while it’s journalists’ responsibility to inform the public, it’s also the government’s responsibility to ensure that their work doesn’t promote national division or harm social harmony. The government’s role, he says, is to create guidelines and not to control its content.
BalaKrishna Adhikari, a member of the Press Council, says Pathak’s case fell under the group’s jurisdiction; but once a case like that goes to the court, “the Press Council cannot intervene.” While autonomous and dedicated to journalistic ethics, the Press Council is still structurally under the government.
“We have to comply with some government orders,” he says.
In another case recently drawing criticism, in early June the Kathmandu District Court ordered two online publications — Bizmandu and Nepal Khabar — to delete stories they’d published alleging that Santosh Narayan Shrestha, chairperson of the Securities Board, had demanded kickbacks before approving infrastructure projects. The court gave an interim order to delete the news.
The Federation of Nepali Journalists, International Federation of Journalists and Nepal Press Union, among others, pushed back, saying the order contradicted constitutional provisions. Soon after, the court dismissed the case.
This too should have been handled by the Press Council, says Taranath Dahal, chairman of Freedom Forum, a nonprofit that monitors press freedom.
Declining freedom
Nepal’s global press freedom ranking has declined in recent years. This year, Reporters Without Borders ranked Nepal 90 out of 180 in its Press Freedom Index, down from 74 in 2024.
In the last three years, press freedom violations have increased, according to data from the Federation of Nepali Journalists. From May 2024 to April this year, the federation recorded 73 press freedom violations, up from 62 incidents a year earlier, and 55 incidents before that.
In 2024, Freedom Forum recorded 35 cases of violations against the media by security officials, 26 by political cadres and eight cases involving government employees. So far in 2025, government officials top the list with 34 violations, followed by political actors with 18 and security officials with 14 violations.
However, the Freedom Forum data shows that the total number of violations has decreased compared to higher levels recorded from 2017 to 2022.
Dahal, from Freedom Forum, says that local government officials, such as ward chairpersons, are some of the worst offenders. They often harass journalists by pressuring or intimidating them, he says.
Generally, the federal government has been reluctant to enforce freedom of press laws, Dahal says. In fact, he says, the government’s tolerance for any reporting that’s critical of it has “dropped to zero.”
‘Acceptable and naturalized’
Historically, journalists in Nepal have operated in a challenging environment. From 2002 to 2018, 38 journalists were killed in Nepal, according to a report by the Federation of Nepali Journalists.
In one of the most recent incidents, during protests in March calling for the return of the monarchy, Suresh Rajak died in Kathmandu after protesters set fire to the building he was inside while reporting on the protests, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders.
And during the most recent protests this month, four journalists were among those injured by rubber bullets fired by the police, according to a statement by the International Federation of Journalists.
The government is often reluctant to investigate or prosecute cases where journalists are killed or injured, says Binod Dhungel, the Nepal correspondent for Reporters Without Borders.
“The idea that a journalist’s work is to get beaten and then write the news is becoming acceptable and naturalized,” he says. “That is very hard.”
Gurung, the former government spokesperson, says journalists working on the front lines may be unintentionally attacked. The government, he says, does not carry out planned attacks on journalists.
Coordinated tactics
Concerns over the government’s treatment of the media come as Nepal pushes ahead with the Media Council Bill. The bill, which the National Assembly passed in February, is under review by a House of Representatives committee. Media and civil society groups worry the bill would weaken the already undermined Press Council and place it under stricter government control.
To compound their concerns, a July amendment to the Printing and Publication Act required online outlets to register at local district administration offices. This would have given local authorities power over online media, but the Department of Broadcasting suspended the registration requirement following pushback.
Still, critics say all these are coordinated efforts to shrink the space for journalists in the country. The government simply wants to bring any kind of media under its control, Dahal says.
Nirmala Sharma, president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, says that misinformation posted to social media also fuels public anger against the media. People often mistake anything circulating on social media for factual news, she says. However, she says journalists also need to make sure what they publish is accurate.
“Journalists are being targeted by both the state and non-state actors simply for reporting the news,” she says.
