Nepal has restricted 26 popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter), because they are not registered with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. While the focus has mostly been on the ban itself, there’s another important angle — the technical side. How does a ban like this actually work? Why are people still using VPNs to get around it? And what does this mean for internet service providers (ISPs) in Nepal? Let’s break it down step by step.
How the Ban Works on the Internet
When the government bans a website or an app, it does not disappear from the internet. Instead, ISPs are told to block access. They can do this in a few different ways:
- DNS Blocking
- Every website has a name (like abijita.com) and an IP address (a number).
- When you type abijita.com, your ISP’s DNS system changes it into a number so your computer can find it.
- With DNS blocking, ISPs refuse to give you the number for that site. It’s like asking someone for an address, and they say, “I don’t know where it is.”
- IP Address Blocking
- Websites and apps run on servers that have IP addresses.
- ISPs can block those addresses so your device cannot reach them.
- But big companies like Google or Meta (Facebook) use thousands of changing addresses, so blocking all of them is tricky.
- Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)
- This is a more advanced (and expensive) method.
- ISPs look inside the data going through their network and stop anything that matches patterns of banned apps.
- This works better but slows down the network and costs ISPs a lot to maintain.
Right now, Nepal is mostly using DNS and IP blocking. That’s why many users can still find ways to bypass the restrictions.
Why VPNs Work So Well
If you’ve noticed, people are still using Facebook and YouTube — that’s thanks to VPNs.
- A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is like a tunnel. It hides your internet activity from your ISP.
- When you use a VPN, your ISP only sees that you are connected to a VPN server — not what you’re doing inside it.
- From the VPN server (which is usually in another country), your request goes out to Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, and the data comes back to you through the same tunnel.
This makes blocking almost impossible because ISPs cannot see what website or app you’re using.
During Nepal’s TikTok ban in 2023, internet traffic actually increased by about 20%. Why? Because so many people downloaded VPN apps to keep using TikTok. The same thing is happening now with Facebook, WhatsApp, and other banned apps.
Impact on ISPs in Nepal
The ban doesn’t just affect users — it also hits ISPs and telecom companies. Here’s how:
More International Bandwidth Use
One of the biggest technical impacts of Nepal’s social media ban is the rise in international bandwidth usage. Normally, popular apps like YouTube and Facebook keep servers inside Nepal to store videos, photos, and other content locally. This reduces costs for ISPs and makes access much faster for users. But when people switch to VPNs, they skip these local servers and fetch content directly from servers abroad. As a result, ISPs are forced to rely more on international connections, which are much more expensive, driving up Nepal’s overall internet costs.
Wasted Local Infrastructure
Another consequence is the wasted use of local infrastructure, especially the Nepal Internet Exchange (NPIX). NPIX was created to keep domestic internet traffic within the country, making data transfer faster and cheaper. Social media content usually flows smoothly through this system. However, because the ban pushes people toward VPNs, most of the traffic now leaves Nepal and comes back through foreign routes. This makes NPIX far less effective and weakens the local internet ecosystem.
Revenue Loss for ISPs and Telecoms
The ban also brings serious financial losses for ISPs and telecom companies. In Nepal, many internet packages are built around social media usage, such as “Facebook packs” or “YouTube packs.” These special data plans generate steady income for service providers. But with the platforms now blocked, that revenue stream has dried up. For example, after TikTok was banned last year, one major telecom company reported losing nearly Rs 600 million each month, showing just how dependent the telecom industry is on social media traffic.
Slower Internet for Everyone
Finally, the shift to VPNs results in slower internet speeds across the board. VPN traffic takes a longer, more complicated route through servers in other countries. This extra journey consumes more resources and clogs up international gateways. As a result, users often experience buffering, delays, and higher latency. What’s worse, this slowdown doesn’t just affect VPN users — it can make the internet slower for everyone.
Security Risks of VPN Usage
Using VPNs may solve the access problem, but it creates new risks:
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- Many free VPN apps are unsafe. They may collect your personal data or even install malware.
- If people use untrustworthy VPNs for sensitive activities like online banking, their information could be stolen.
- Nepal Police has already warned that indiscriminate VPN use can lead to privacy issues and cybercrime.
What Could Happen Next?
- Tougher Blocking: If VPN use keeps rising, the government might push ISPs to use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to block VPN connections. This is costly and may slow the whole internet.
- Higher Costs for ISPs: More international traffic means bigger bills for ISPs, which could lead to higher prices for users in the future.
- Shift to Encrypted Apps: People may move to even more secure apps that are harder to block, creating a game of cat and mouse between users and regulators.
Nepal’s ban on social media is not about politics — it is mainly about platforms that have not registered with the government as required by law. ISPs are now forced to block these unregistered services, but users are quickly finding workarounds through VPNs. This situation increases internet costs, wastes local infrastructure, slows down networks, and also creates new security risks for users.
