Tiktok has removed 3.1 million videos from Nepal from April to December last year (9 months). Tiktok has removed 31 lakh 31 thousand 84 videos from Nepal in 9 months, stating that they are socially indigestible, i.e. not following 'Community Guidelines'. In this way, an average of three and a half lakh Nepali videos have been removed from Tiktok every month.

In the third quarter of 2024 (July, August and September) 975 thousand 677 and in the fourth quarter (October, November and December) 14 lakh 76 thousand 862 videos have been removed from Nepal, the company has mentioned in its 'Community Guidelines Enforcement Report'. Before that, 678,545 videos were removed in April, May and June. In this way, more than 31 million videos have been removed in 9 months.

Tiktok was banned in Nepal from November 2023 (2080 October) to August 2024 (2081 August). It seems that many videos have been removed from the platform even during the ban period. In the quarter before the ban was opened (April, May and June of 2024), Tiktok's report shows that an average of more than 200,000 videos were removed per month, while from January to March, the company has not disclosed any details.  

A representative of Tiktok who oversees South Asian affairs has claimed that Tiktok is committed to providing a safe and dignified digital environment to users of Tiktok in Nepal through its regulation. Responding to Kantipur via email, he said,  "After the ban was lifted in Nepal, the company is regularly cooperating with the government and regulatory bodies and adopting a transparent process. We are regularly cooperating with government agencies and stakeholders with the expectation that Tiktok will be a safe and reliable platform in Nepal." In August 2081, the government put forward various conditions while lifting the ban on the Chinese social media app TikTok. In that, it was mentioned that Tiktok should be listed in Nepal, internet security, digital literacy, tourism promotion of Nepal and cooperation in educational quality improvement in educational institutions and especially 'content filtering' and 'moderation' should be made effective. Digital rights activists suspected that when

platforms were instructed to do 'content moderation' by identifying the source of Nepali language and other national languages, legitimate expression might also be restricted. They were of the opinion that instructing social media platforms to use software to effectively 'content filtering' and 'moderation' would be 'pre-censorship' and such efforts are unconstitutional.  Regarding the removal of content from the

platform, Tiktok has responded that it takes government requests seriously and reviews each content based on the 'Community Guidelines', 'Terms of Service' and local legal standards.

"Even if a content does not violate our community guidelines and is considered illegal according to local laws, we can ban such content within Nepal," said a representative of Tiktok. It is the claim of those representatives who only act. He mentioned that Tiktok is continuing transparency and dialogue as an effort to become a reliable partner in all its markets including Nepal. He also said that the company is taking various initiatives to ensure a safe and dignified digital space for 1 billion users worldwide. Gajendra Kumar Thakur, spokesperson of the Ministry of Communications, said that after

Tiktok has been listed, it is assisting the government in research, content moderation, tourism promotion, etc. Tiktok has facilitated the process of removing the content as soon as the government requested it. The company is reviewing the videos by having a representative in Nepal," said Thakur, "About 6 percent of the content has been removed at the request of the government, while the rest is being proactively removed by them themselves."

Tiktok's 'community guidelines' clearly mention what can and cannot be discussed on the platform. He said that thousands of 'trust and safety professionals' have been deployed along with advanced 'moderation' technology to keep the platform safe. "As Tiktok users are increasing in Nepal, we have felt that our responsibility has also increased," he says, "that's why we are appointing trust and safety representatives who have local expertise, cultural context and regional understanding specifically for Nepal."

What is in Tiktok's community guidelines?

Social media companies have created documents such as 'Community Guidelines' and 'Terms of Service', containing standards that users must follow when using their platforms. TikTok's Community Guidelines prohibit the promotion of illegal activities such as drug, weapons, and human trafficking. Content that can influence election results is also banned. Content advocating murder, suicide, terrorism or violent acts may not be 'posted'.

It prohibits content such as sexual or obscene content, child abuse, hate speech and spreading false information. Tiktok's Terms of Service sets out the legal eligibility (age limit) to use the Platform, user responsibilities, intellectual property rights and Tiktok's rights and limitations. The terms include that the user is responsible for all the content posted from his account, not to use the content of others without authorization and to give permission to the company to use the content posted on Tiktok. It also provides that Tiktok can suspend the account or remove the content if the company's rules are violated.