Nepal has become the first country that choose its Prime Minister on Discord, a social media platform, through a vote by the youth, or more specifically, Gen Z.
The youth who organized a peace protest on September 8 boiled over into violent events, which later inspired them to select who would become the interim Prime Minister to lead the country.
The favorites were the socially respected figures who didn’t necessarily come from the establishment parties of the country. Sushila Karki was voted to lead the country she later assumed the office as well.
What is Discord?
Discord is a social media platform where users can connect with voice, text, and video. The platform allows users to create communities to engage on topics, which are called servers.
The platform was launched on May 13, 2015, by its founders Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy. The social network first surfaced under the domain discordapp.com, which is available via the Discord app on smartphones.
Top put this into the Nepali context, it, just like globally, is popular for gamers, but has growingly become popular for netizens to connect like any other social media platform. It became even more popular as Gen Z protests took traction.
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How social media aided Nepal’s revolutionary Gen Z protests that toppled the political hierarchy?
On September 8, 2025, Nepal’s Gen Z groups, who formed their protests, took to the streets protesting the corruption and luxurious lives lived by politicians’ offspring. But it was more than that, simply. It was a loud voice against the ‘musical chair’ powerplay by a few politicians, unemployment, not being heard, and all matters related to the youth. Well, Generation Z itself refers to the youth between 13 and 28, or digital natives, as they are called.
Before the September 8 protests, a trend “Nepo Babies” was started on TikTok, drawing attention to the lavish lifestyle of politicians’ sons and daughters, arguing that normal Nepalese suffer through everyday hardships while the rich political class live through utmost privileges.
The September 8 and 9 protests turned deadly, and so far, 71people have been said to have died during the protests. The violent demonstrations left historically significant structures such as the Singha Durbar, the parliament, and others burning. As pressure mounted, the then PM KP Sharma Oli resigned and had to be escorted off to safety.
PM Sushila Karki was selected on Discord
A Discord server with over 145,000 members held a “poll” as to who should be their interim PM. After several rounds of discussions, Sushila Karki came out on top as the favorite. The former chief justice has been a popular figure in Nepal for her intolerance against corruption and speaking against the establishment parties’ unpopular policies.
For a while, Nepal’s parliament was run on Discord, a social media platform that the government initially had banned over non-registration. Such a phenomenon doesn’t really happen in a normal situation.
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As Nepal embarks towards normalcy, political conflicts do remain, and so do chances to remove them and fill them with a new order. But what must also be acknowledged is the power of social media to bring people together to combine their voices and stand up for a common cause.