‘More egalitarian’: How Nepal’s Gen Z used gaming app Discord to pick PM

Kathmandu, Nepal – As Nepal burned connected Thursday aft 2 days of deadly unrest that ousted a authorities accused of corruption, thousands of young radical gathered successful a heated statement to determine their nation’s adjacent leader.

To them, the country’s mainstream politicians crossed the large parties were discredited: 14 governments representing 3 parties person taken turns astatine governing since 2008, erstwhile Nepal adopted a caller constitution aft abolishing its monarchy.

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But successful the aftermath of a brutal crackdown connected protesters by information forces that killed astatine slightest 72 people, their spot successful the country’s governmental strategy itself had been shattered. They wanted to prime a statement person who would steer the state of 30 cardinal radical retired of chaos and instrumentality steps towards stamping retired corruption and nepotism. Just not successful the mode countries usually prime their heads.

So, they chose Nepal’s adjacent person successful a mode unprecedented for immoderate electoral ideology – done a virtual canvass connected Discord, a United States-based escaped messaging level chiefly utilized by online gamers.

The online huddle was organised by Hami Nepal, a Gen Z radical down the protestation with much than 160,000 members.

Hami Nepal ran a transmission connected the level called Youth Against Corruption, wherever a fiery statement connected the country’s aboriginal brought unneurotic much than 10,000 people, including galore from the Nepali diaspora. As much radical tried to log successful and failed, a mirrored livestream was held connected YouTube to let astir 6,000 much radical to spot the debate.

[Screenshots from the Discord statement connected adjacent Nepal leader]

After hours of statement that included hard questions for protestation leaders and attempts astatine reaching retired to imaginable premier curate candidates successful existent time, the participants chose erstwhile Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki to pb Nepal. The 73-year-old took the oath of bureau arsenic the country’s interim premier curate connected Friday.

But Nepal’s modulation is lone beginning, accidental analysts, and the attack protesters took to take the country’s person lone underscores however a chaotic caller experimentation successful ideology appears to beryllium nether way, with rewards arsenic good arsenic risks.

‘Trying to fig it retired together’

The Discord statement was a revolutionary antagonistic to the accepted signifier of politicians choosing leaders down closed doors, which had displayed small transparency, accidental supporters of the Discord approach.

Discord enables users to link done texts, dependable calls, video calls and media sharing. It besides allows connection done nonstop messages oregon wrong assemblage spaces known arsenic servers. It was 1 of the platforms banned by the authorities earlier this period alongside 2 twelve different fashionable applications, including Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The ban, protesters said, was the past straw that spiralled into a nationwide question against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s government. The demonstrators accused it of being unrepresentative of young people, arsenic good arsenic of wide corruption and nepotism.

Tens of thousands of young protesters deed the streets connected Tuesday, torching authorities buildings, including the parliament and residences of apical politicians, and forcing Oli to resign. On Friday, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved parliament and called for a wide election successful March.

By then, Nepal’s Gen Z protesters had turned to Discord to determine who should pb their federation until March. The societal media prohibition was lifted aft the killings earlier successful the week.

Virtual polls connected mobile screens allowed participants to nominate their interim person successful existent time, marking a extremist experimentation successful integer democracy.

“People were learning arsenic they went,” said 25-year-old instrumentality postgraduate Regina Basnet, a protester who had past joined the Discord debate. “Many of america didn’t cognize what it meant to dissolve parliament oregon signifier an interim government. But we were asking questions, getting answers from experts, and trying to fig it retired together.”

The treatment revolved astir a wide scope of issues Nepal indispensable conflict now, including jobs, constabulary and assemblage reforms, arsenic good arsenic the authorities of authorities healthcare, arsenic the moderators urged the participants to absorption connected the main question earlier them: the adjacent leader.

Five names were shortlisted for the last voting: Harka Sampang, a societal activistic and politician of the eastbound metropolis of Dharan; Mahabir Pun, a fashionable societal activistic moving the National Innovation Centre; Sagar Dhakal, an autarkic person who ran against the almighty Nepali Congress leader, Sher Bahadur Deuba, successful 2022; advocator Rastra Bimochan Timalsina, besides known arsenic Random Nepali connected his YouTube channel, who has been advising the Gen Z protesters; and Karki.

Karki, who emerged arsenic the victor of the poll, had campaigned for an autarkic judiciary during her little tenure arsenic main justness from 2016 to 2017. In 2012, she and different Supreme Court justice jailed a serving curate for corruption. In 2017, the authorities unsuccessfully tried to impeach her arsenic main justness aft she rejected its prime for constabulary chief.

That past added to her credentials successful the eyes of the Discord voters.

“The concern that I person travel in, I person not wished to travel here. My sanction was brought from the streets,” she said successful an code to the federation aft assuming office. “We volition not enactment present much than six months successful immoderate situation. We volition implicit our responsibilities and pledge to manus implicit to the adjacent parliament and ministers.”

Many radical who took portion successful the Discord statement besides suggested Balen Shah, the fashionable rapper-turned-mayor of Kathmandu, arsenic their prime for interim premier minister. The Hami Nepal moderators informed the participants they could not scope Shah, who aboriginal posted his endorsement of Karki connected societal media.

Many successful Nepal judge Shah could beryllium a frontrunner for the premier minister’s station successful the March 5 elections.

‘Much much egalitarian’

Aayush Bashyal, who was portion of the Discord discussions, told Al Jazeera helium witnessed a “spectrum of understanding, and it was each ‘trial and error’”.

“Some radical would travel and belittle the ideas, which would paralyse the conversation. However, it was perfectly the request of the moment, and was an impromptu communal crushed to bring arsenic galore voices arsenic possible,” helium said.

Bashyal said immoderate successful the Discord forum besides called for a restoration of Nepal’s monarchy, which was abolished successful 2006 aft a decade-long rebellion by left-wing forces successful the country.

“There was besides a pro-monarchy Discord radical going connected broadside by side. Sometimes, radical would stock the screenshots from their chats,” the 27-year-old pupil of nationalist medication astatine Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan University told Al Jazeera. He branded the pro-monarchy radical arsenic “infiltrators”.

In the aforesaid forum, immoderate Gen Z participants adjacent questioned the legitimacy of the protestation leaders. “You made the agenda, but we don’t cognize you. How we tin spot you is besides different issue,” 1 subordinate said.

Other issues that came up during the deliberations included investigating the killings of protesters and cracking down connected corruption.

The Supreme Court gathering burns aft being torched by the protesters successful Kathmandu connected September 9, 2025 [Samik Kharel/Al Jazeera]

‘This is the future’

Pranaya Rana, a writer who sends retired the fashionable Kalam Weekly newsletter to much than 4,300 subscribers, said that utilizing Discord made consciousness for a Gen Z-led movement, but that it besides came with challenges.

“It is overmuch much egalitarian than a carnal forum that galore mightiness not person entree to. Since it is virtual and anonymous, radical tin besides accidental what they privation to without fearfulness of retaliation,” helium told Al Jazeera. “But determination are besides challenges, successful that anyone could easy manipulate users by infiltration, and utilizing aggregate accounts to sway opinions and votes.”

Aware of however misinformation, fake quality and rumours could derail specified movements, the Gen Z leaders besides launched a sub-room called “fact checks” connected their Discord treatment page.

Among the things they debunked was a photograph showing protestation person Sudan Gurung, the main negotiator for the enactment of the interim government, with Arzu Rana Deuba, the ousted overseas minister. The representation was falsely claimed to person been taken a week before, erstwhile it was really from an lawsuit that had happened six months earlier. Gurung had met the curate to request justness for a Nepali pupil who had died by termination aft helium was allegedly harassed astatine an engineering assemblage successful neighbouring India’s Odisha state.

There were besides rumours that Gurung was not a Nepali citizen, but from Darjeeling, a elevation municipality successful eastbound India. A transcript of his Nepali citizenship paper was released successful the Discord treatment country and connected societal media.

Smoke rises from a authorities gathering acceptable connected occurrence successful Kathmandu [Samik Kharel/Al Jazeera]

The Gen Z organisers besides debunked claims that erstwhile King Gyanendra had met the protesters. It was recovered that an aged video of Nepal’s past monarch interacting with youngsters was being shared connected societal media.

It was besides discovered that aggregate societal media handles and profiles claiming to beryllium the “official” younker question had contributed to immoderate disorder connected the ground. On Thursday night, a Gen Z person was adjacent seen calling a Nepal subject serviceman connected the phone, informing him against imaginable royal interference successful the enactment of the adjacent government.

Rana, the journalist, said the protestation leaders made bully usage of technology, “something that Gen Z is champion at”.

“This is the future. We tin either stay successful the days of giving speeches connected stages with mics oregon get utilized to talking freely connected online platforms,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“Gen Z is naive, but that’s to beryllium expected. They are young, but they person shown a willingness to learn, and that’s the important part.”

Anticorruption activistic and the erstwhile president of Transparency International Nepal, Padmini Pradhanang, urged Gen Z protestation leaders to enactment connected what the erstwhile governments “miserably failed astatine – integrity, accountability, transparency and bully governance”.

“These young radical person lone experienced kleptocracy. They person ne'er seen existent ideology oregon bully governance,” she said.

But instrumentality postgraduate Basnet is not sure.

“At first, it was a peaceful protest. The temper was celebratory. But the state-ordered carnage aboriginal was traumatising… The uprising and burning of backstage and nationalist properties was scary, and then, with radical participating successful a treatment connected societal media to signifier the authorities has lone added to the confusion,” she told Al Jazeera.

“All these events that unfolded interest me.”