(This August 22 story has been corrected to clarify that the statement came from TikTok and not ByteDance, in paragraph 3)
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal on Thursday lifted a ban on Chinese-owned TikTok, more than nine months after banning the popular video-sharing app for disrupting “social harmony and goodwill.”
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting after the company agreed to work with Nepali law enforcement to tackle TikTok-related crime and regulate its content, a government source said on condition of anonymity.
TikTok, whose holding company is Beijing-based ByteDance, said it was pleased with the decision.
Nepal’s previous government banned the app in November over concerns about its misuse. More than 1,600 TikTok-related cybercrime cases were registered in the Himalayan country in the previous four years.
Sporadic street protests broke out, with users saying the ban cut off a source of income and closed a forum for free speech. According to the Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal, TikTok had 2.2 million users in Nepal at the time.
Nepal sought a central unit from TikTok to help the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau round-the-clock in tracking down criminals and blocking inappropriate content that has even led to suicides.
“Fast, real-time identification of users can be an effective tool to catch offenders and deter misuse of the technology,” agency spokesman Dipak Raj Awasti told Reuters on Thursday.
Several other countries have banned TikTok in whole or in part, with many raising concerns about national security and privacy.
