How Discord Helped Revolutionise Nepal

On a September night in Kathmandu, the Parliament of Nepal was not convened under the gleaming chandeliers of Singha Durbar, a more-than-a-century-old historic palace complex and the nerve centre of the country’s administration. Instead, the ‘Parliament’ itself flickered alive on laptop screens and smartphones across the country. The benches were not lined with politicians in perfectly ironed daura suruwals (a formal, traditional Nepalese outfit) but with thousands of anonymous avatars: anime faces, football club crests, cartoon frogs and even K-pop idols.

In the Discord server run by Hami Nepal, a youth-led NGO, channels scrolled so fast they were almost unreadable. One room buzzed with strategy for the next morning’s protests; another debated the fine points of electoral reform. In a voice channel labelled #parliament-floor, young protesters argued over who could command public trust as an interim leader. Within minutes, thousands of votes poured in. By midnight, the consensus was clear. The following week, on September 12, Sushila Karki—a 73-year-old former chief justice respected for her independence—was appointed interim prime minister, a choice first legitimised through these animated Discord discussions.

“Discord discussions of Nepal right now is Discord,” said Sid Ghimiri, 23, a Kathmandu-based content creator for The New York Times, summing up a generational mood: disillusioned with institutions but determined to build their own. The protests, which began over government curbs on social media platforms, had grown into a wider pushback against Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s administration, creating a vacuum in which citizens debated alternative leadership on Discord.

What began as a platform for gamers to chat while playing online has, in a dramatic twist of fate, become an unlikely stage for political reorganisation in Nepal. Discord, the San Francisco-based voice, video and text communication app, played a pivotal role in shaping the country’s recent youth-led protests and even influenced the choice of an interim prime minister.

Discord launched in 2015 as a free platform where users create ‘servers’ or digital communities that function like virtual clubhouses. Each server can host thousands of members, broken into “channels” for different topics: some text-based, others dedicated to voice or video calls.

Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Discord is less about broadcasting to followers and more about group-based conversations. Communities range from private study groups and fan clubs to massive public servers with open membership. Users can vote in polls, share files, stream live video, or simply talk in real-time voice chats. Moderators assign roles and permissions, making it possible to replicate anything from a classroom seminar to a parliament-style debate.

The app’s layered structure, relative privacy and ability to host large groups have made it attractive to groups who need both coordination and conversation, from students to activists

Discord’s usefulness came to the fore during Nepal’s dramatic political crisis in September 2025. After the government blocked major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube, citing new registration rules, protesters, mainly from Generation Z, turned to Discord.

A server run by Hami Nepal, a youth-led NGO, quickly became the movement’s digital headquarters. With over 100,000 members, it served as a virtual town hall where debates raged late into the night. Protesters used multiple channels: one for policy proposals, another for sharing logistics from the streets and voice channels for deliberations.

Inside this space, organisers held polls to decide who might serve as an acceptable interim leader. Dozens of names were floated, from activists to independent voices, including Balendra Shah (the mayor of Kathmandu and rapper-turned-politician); Kulman Ghising, a popular technocrat known for putting an end to Nepal’s chronic power cuts; Sagar Dhakal, an Oxford-educated cricketer, engineer-turned-politician; and Rastra Bimochan Timalsena, a lawyer and a YouTuber, whose handle is @random.nepali has taken Nepal by storm. Still, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki gained overwhelming support in repeated polls conducted on Discord, which directly preceded her appointment as interim prime minister.

Most of the names being animatedly mulled over on Discord did not belong to the conventional political mould but were mavericks who came into the public eye on account of their straight-shooting commentary or, like Karki and Ghising, who tackled corruption head-on in their official capacities.

The process, though informal, gave the movement a sense of collective decision-making absent in formal Nepali politics.

The results of these digital votes travelled quickly from server discussions to the streets and eventually into political negotiations. When Karki was named interim prime minister, observers noted that her selection was first legitimised not in parliament, but in a chat app built for gamers.

Beyond Nepal

Nepal is not the first place where Discord has been pulled into the orbit of politics. Protesters reportedly used Discord alongside Telegram in Hong Kong to coordinate demonstrations and share real-time updates, valuing its voice chat and lower visibility compared with mainstream platforms. Anti-government activists in Belarus used a mix of encrypted apps, including Discord, to orga­nise flash mobs and share safe protest routes. In the United States, far-right groups used Discord to plan the 2017 Charlottesville rally, leading to scrutiny and crackdowns by the platform.

These cases highlight the app’s dual nature: it can serve as an egalitarian digital commons for democratic movements, but it also faces challenges around moderation, anonymity and misuse. In Nepal, Discord’s sudden centrality underscored a deeper generational shift. For Gen Z protesters, the app offered more than a messaging tool; it became a stand-in for institutions they no longer trust. Decisions traditionally hammered out in party offices and parliamentary caucuses were instead debated in voice chats and ratified by online polls.

The episode signals a broader trend: the platforms that once hosted gaming clans or hobby groups are now stepping into the vacuum left by faltering political systems. In Nepal, a generation’s frustration found its outlet in Discord, transforming a chat app into an unlikely digital parliament.

The article appeared in the Outlook Magazine's October 1, 2025, issue Nepal GenZ Sets Boundaries as 'The Revolution Is Giving'.