Discord becomes polling booth as Nepal's Gen Z endorse new government

Nepal’s ongoing political power has directed thousands of Gen Z activists to Discord, a gaming chat platform, to endorse former chief justice Sushila Karki as interim prime minister. 

After Nepal’s prime minister abruptly resigned on Tuesday, which collapsed the nation’s government, the military imposed a curfew across Kathmandu, restricted public gatherings, and assumed control of the streets. 

Young activists have now turned to Discord after the country’s leadership issued an eviction notice to Meta in a social media crackdown about a week ago, as covered by Cryptopolitan.

“The Parliament of Nepal right now is Discord,” said Sid Ghimiri, a 23-year-old content creator in Kathmandu. He said national television stations have been broadcasting excerpts from chatrooms, while Nepali news sites are live-streaming sessions from the server.

Gen Z tells military to appoint Karki through Discord

The Discord server was launched by Hami Nepal, a civic organization active during the week’s anti-corruption protests. In four days, the server grew to more than 145,000 members, most of them young Nepalis.

“The point was to simulate a kind of mini-election,” explained Shaswot Lamichhane, a recent high school graduate and one of the moderators. He said the initiative was not intended to represent the entire country but to suggest an interim leader who could oversee elections.

More than half of Nepal’s population of 30 million is now connected to the internet, according to World Bank data. That connectivity fueled protests of Gen Z citizens angered about corruption and a social media ban of 26 platforms including Facebook and YouTube, culminating in the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Many Nepalis rushed to download VPN services to evade government restrictions spearheaded largely by young demonstrators, many in their 20s, who flooded the streets of Kathmandu last Monday. Their demand was for the government to restore access to banned social media platforms and hold leaders accountable.

Downloads of Proton VPN surged 6,000% in three days, according to the Swiss-based company. Fears of an internet shutdown also drove a spike in use of Bitchat, a Bluetooth-based messaging app created by billionaire tech entrepreneur Jack Dorsey.

Members debated several potential candidates, including influencer Rastra Bimochan Timilsina, young politician Sagar Dhakal, Dharan mayor Harka Sampang, and social entrepreneur Mahabir Pun. A Discord server with over 145,000 members had a heated debate over Nepal’s interim leadership, but many rallied behind 73-year-old former chief justice Karki.

According to the South China Morning Post, Army chiefs met with Discord organizers earlier this week, asking them to propose a nominee for interim prime minister. A manifesto drafted by Gen Z activists with contributions from other citizens was released through social media for public feedback on the same day, compiled in 36 hours.

Nepal’s constitution has an emergency clause to be used in times of crisis to appoint an interim leader. But the process is largely opaque, so it is unclear if the army will formally endorse the Discord-backed choice.

Some Gen Z citizens feel the vote was flawed

The Discord server had more than 40,000 active members, but only 7,713 votes were recorded before moderators closed the polls after Karki crossed the 50% threshold. Some participants asked if the process had enough moderators and votes to uphold the essence of democracy, impartiality.

“With her affiliation to political leaders, how do we know she will remain independent?” asked one Gen Z member who participated in the chat. He proposed that Karki should take a public oath to guarantee her neutrality.

“We do not have definite leaders to represent us,” said Samdip Yadav, a 23-year-old graduate in Kathmandu. “At times it felt like a random social media call. It happened so quickly. But the discussions showed that young people want their voices heard, even if the format was disorganized.”

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