Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views and opinions of the crypto.news editorial.
In an attempt to curb growing dissent among its youth last month, the Nepalese government abruptly forbidden 26 social media platforms; However, what followed was chaos. Protesting crowds clashed with police, and parliament and court buildings were eventually set on fire. resulting in the resignation of the Prime Minister of Nepal, KP Oli, and his flight from the country. The riots highlighted how decentralization (both in information flow and digital organization) can empower citizens in ways that governments struggle to control.
Summary
- Nepal’s digital revolt: After the government banned 26 social media platforms, young Nepalis turned to decentralized apps like Bitchat, proving that shutting down the internet no longer means silencing people.
- Technological stress test: The crisis revealed how decentralized systems, such as mesh networks and blockchains, can bypass government censorship and continue operating even when centralized infrastructure is shut down.
- Global signal: From Nepal to Hong Kong to India, the battle for digital freedom is intensifying, proving that decentralized technology is not just about finance: it is about freedom of expression, autonomy and control over digital life.
However, beneath this layer of dissent and political turmoil, the crisis doubled as a real-world stress test for decentralized technologies. This is because as soon as the government decided to “deactivate” the country’s access to the World Wide Web, people (especially young people) across the region found tangible solutions almost immediately.
Within days, almost 50,000 Nepalese had discharged Bitchat, a P2P messaging app created by Twitter/Square co-founder Jack Dorsey, with almost 39% of the app’s total downloads coming from the country. Nor is it surprising that a similar The situation unfolded in Indonesia just weeks earlier, when protesters also flocked to Bitchat during corruption protests.
In the case of Nepal, the government lifted (or more accurately, was forced to lift) its ban after just a few days because the exercise backfired, as shutting down decentralized mesh networks became virtually impossible for them.
Breaking free from the ‘single point of failure’ conundrum
For many, the Nepalese revolution clearly illustrated that decentralized systems, by design, did not depend on a single central server where users’ sensitive details could be stored without their approval. So when local authorities banned conventional apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, their decentralized counterparts simply kept running. Even when the devices were powered off, the meshes rerouted data across the remaining online peers.
In this broader context, public blockchains work in a very similar way: every transaction and message is recorded in a global ledger that anyone can join. For example, Bitcoin (btc) ledger is secured by miners on all continents, and Ethereum’s (ETH) smart contracts run on a network of independent validators. If one node goes down, others replace it, making any ban or shutdown incredibly difficult to implement.
The same concept also extends to the financial realm, particularly in DeFi, where user funds are locked in code-controlled contracts instead of bank accounts. If authorities attempt to freeze a wallet linked to a particular centralized exchange, the individual can simply transfer their funds and continue facilitating peer-to-peer transactions.
The broader battle for digital freedom
Nepal’s digital uprising is part of a broader global story about information control. In fact, Internet freedom around the world has been declining rapidly, with a recent study revealing that global censorship conditions have decreased for the 14th consecutive year. To date, the European Union has announced its intention to implement its infamous “Chat Control” mandate, which would require messaging apps to break encryption for regulatory purposes.
Similarly, during the protests in Hong Kong and Myanmar that took place between 2019 and 2021, activists were forced use mesh networks and VPNs to bypass what appeared to be dictatorial lockdowns. Finally, in India, the government recently issued new legislation that allows tax officials to access anyone’s WhatsApp data, email and even encrypted communications during fraud or evasion investigations.
These illustrations are not just exaggerated examples of an Orwellian future but a shape of things to come. In fact, this is precisely why decentralized social networks (like Mastodon and Nostr) and messaging apps (like Signal, Session, and Status, among others) have attracted and continue to attract users every day.
Looking ahead, therefore, it seems clear that privacy-conscious users can no longer rely solely on big tech or multinational banks; instead, they need to work in conjunction with permissionless systems, where they can have their own keys, run a node, or even join a mesh network without needing permission.
As Nepalese youth have demonstrated, technology initially created for financial freedom can just as easily unlock freedom of expression. When a path is blocked, decentralized protocols can simply detour to fix the problem.
