Nepal police are fire on people who protest against social media restrictions, and it is said that at least 17

The police opened in the capital of Kathmandu in Nepal on Monday on the demonstrators who appear against a government ban on social media platforms, killing at least 17 and wounding dozens of other dozens, according to state television.

At least six people died at Bir Hospital in Kathmando, Kantepur newspaper said, quoting doctors. Two of the civil hospital and two others died at KMC Hospital, according to the doctors there who spoke, provided that his identity was not disclosed because they were not allowed to comment.

The number of deaths updated by the police officer, sheikh Khanal. He said that 28 officers were among the wounded, as the smaller protests continued until Monday evening.

The officials said at least 145 people were injured. They were treated in half of the hospitals in Kathmandu.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took the streets NepalThe Monday’s capital to vent themselves with their anger at the authorities ’decision to ban most social media platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube. The authorities accused the failure platforms of registration and submission to government control.

Google, who owns YouTube, nor Meta, the parent company for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press. The Elon Musk X platform also did not respond.

The demonstrators pushed through the barbed wire and forced the riot police to retreat while surrounding the Nepalese Parliament building. Police launched tear gas and water gun, but exceeded their number and expanded safety inside the parliament complex. The police eventually opened fire on the demonstrators.

The Minister of Governmental Communications in Nepal Breithvi Soba told the CBS News network partners network BBC News The police were forced to use force.

“The tear gas and water cannons were used after the demonstrators violated in the banned area,” police spokesman Sheikhmar Khanal told Agence France Presse.

The situation remained tense and the government announced the curfew on Monday around Parliament, along with the government’s secretariat, the presidential parliament and other major parts of the city.

“Stop prohibiting social media, stopping corruption, not social media,” the crowd chanted, waving the red and blue national flag. On Monday, a “Gen Z” gathering, referring to the people born between 1995 and 2010.

The government said that about twenty social networking platforms that are widely used in Nepal were given repeatedly notifications to officially register their companies in the country. Those who failed to do so have been banned since last week.

Tiktok and Viber and three other platforms were recorded and continued to work without interruption.

The move came by the authorities when the government sent a draft law to conduct a discussion in Parliament seeking to ensure that social platforms “are managed properly, responsible and accountable.” It includes the companies’ demand to appoint a call office or point in the country.

The draft law has been widely criticized as an control tool and the government opponents who express their opposition online. Rights groups described it as an attempt by the government to reduce freedom of expression and violate basic rights.

In 2023, Nepal banned the Chinese -owned video Tiktok app, accused of disrupting “social harmony, goodwill and inappropriate materials.”

This ban was lifted last year after Tiktok executives pledged to comply with local laws, which include a ban on pornographic sites approved in 2018.