From Arab Spring to Nepal: How social media keeps powering mass uprisings

Cutting off social media in Nepal did not stop dissent. It helped fuel it. Protesters quickly turned to VPNs and alternative channels, spreading videos of clashes with security forces. Many even say the blackout only confirmed their suspicion of a government unwilling to listen.

On September 8, thousands of young people in Nepal’s Kathmandu, many still in school uniforms, marched towards the gates of parliament. They were angry for various reasons: corruption in high places of the Nepal Government, and a sudden decision by the state to ban social media, a place where the youth used to share evidence of that anger. Within days, clashes left scores injured and over 70 dead. Protesters smashed into the parliamentary compound and the prime minister’s position crumbled amid the fury. 

What happened in Kathmandu is the latest reminder of a global pattern: from Tunisia in 2010 to Sri Lanka in 2022,  from Bangladesh in 2024 to Nepal in 2025, social media has been a decisive force in political uprisings.

The beginning 

During the 2010-2011 period, the North African country of Tunisia was simmering in protests led by the country’s youth against rising unemployment, inflation, corruption in the government and so on. Amid this, Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor, set himself on fire in December 2010 following harassment by local police. The news of this incident spread like wildfire on social media and within hours, videos and photos of demonstrations spread online, mobilising thousands. The unrest eventually forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country. That moment is often seen as the first proof of how social media could act as a political accelerant, turning local anger into nationwide revolt.

Then came the ‘Arab Spring’ in Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Libya..In Egypt, a Facebook page called “We Are All Khaled Said” became a central rallying point after the violent death of a young man at police hands in 2011. The page’s anonymous administrator, Wael Ghonim, later described how online outrage translated into real-world action: social media did not create the grievance, he said, but it helped people recognise they were not alone and nudged them into public protest. 

People vs State

The story has repeated itself around the world. In Ukraine’s Euromaidan protests of 2013–14, activists livestreamed demonstrations from Kyiv’s Independence Square, spreading news faster than traditional media. In Lebanon in 2019, a government plan to tax WhatsApp calls sparked demonstrations that quickly grew into a broader revolt against corruption. In Sri Lanka in 2022, Facebook and Twitter posts calling for people to “occupy” government buildings helped turn economic frustration into a mass movement that brought down President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators celebrate after they entered into Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe's office during a protest demanding for his resignation, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 13, 2022.

South Asia has seen several more recent examples. Student-led movements in Bangladesh in 2024 used TikTok and Facebook to organise class boycotts and street protests. Earlier this year in Indonesia, anger over rising living costs and political corruption was channelled through hashtags and viral videos, bringing tens of thousands onto the streets. In each case, digital platforms became spaces where grievances could spread beyond campuses, neighbourhoods or workplaces to a national stage.

The mechanisms are by now familiar. Social media spreads the word within minutes, turning anger into action almost instantly. It also exposes government crackdowns in real time, with images of police violence often fuelling further protest. It also gives people who lack access to mainstream media a way to be heard. As a report by Access Now, a digital rights platform, noted, “the first casualty of an internet shutdown is the public’s right to know.” The group recorded 296 internet shutdowns in 54 countries in 2024, many aimed at quelling dissent.

People wave flags during celebrations marking the one-year anniversary of student-led protests that led to the ousting of Bangladeshi then-Prime-Minister Sheikh Hasina, at Manik Mia Avenue, outside the parliament building, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2025.

Governments have adapted too. Some impose strict conditions on platforms, as Nepal attempted, while others resort to full shutdowns. India has led the world in the number of internet blackouts in recent years, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. Elsewhere, governments use surveillance, arrests or disinformation to counter what circulates online. The contest between citizen mobilisation and state control now routinely plays out in the digital arena as much as on the streets.

With roughly half of Nepal’s 30 million people active on social media, the platforms are central to how young Nepalis communicate, work and organise. Cutting them off did not stop dissent; it helped fuel it. Protesters quickly turned to VPNs and alternative channels, spreading videos of clashes with security forces. Many even say the blackout only confirmed their suspicion of a government unwilling to listen.