The Internet-led Revolution

As the number of internet users surpassed one billion in the late 2000s, new possibilities for communication emerged. Activists and protesters rapidly harnessed these technologies to disseminate anti-government messages, coordinate collective action, and organise demonstrations at an unprecedented scale. The internet’s dual function as both a communication platform and an organisational tool posed a significant challenge to authoritarian governments. As states adapted to this new threat through censorship, surveillance, and digital repression, the internet’s role in revolutionary movements also evolved. This transformation is evident in the changing character of revolutionary movements, from the Facebook Revolutions of the 2011 Arab Spring to the youth-led Gen Z revolutions of Nepal in 2025.

Tunisia: A Dictatorship Under Strain

Since gaining independence from France in 1956, Tunisia had been governed by a succession of authoritarian leaders. The country’s first president, Habib Bourguiba, remained in power till 1987, when Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali assumed office following a coup. Under his rule, freedom of speech and democratic participation were severely curtailed. Restrictive election eligibility requirements prevented credible opposition candidates from contesting elections, undermining the democratic process. At the same time, Ben Ali maintained tight control over the media, intimidating and imprisoning critics while rewarding such media outlets and journalists that remained loyal to the regime.

Internet Access and Recession in Tunisia

In the 2000s, internet access in Tunisia expanded rapidly, rising from 6% in 2003 to 39% by 2011. This development exposed Tunisians to information beyond the state’s rigidly controlled media. At the same time, Tunisians had grown increasingly frustrated by the economic downturn that already began in the 1980s. Much of this decline stemmed from market liberalisation reforms promoted by the IMF, which had begun before Ben Ali came to power. The global financial of 2008 and subsequent recession that hit Tunisia accelerated these issues. Household debt and unemployment were on the rise and prompted frequent street protests.

Mohammed Bouazizi

On July 4th 2011, street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire outside a provincial government building after he had faced severe financial hardship and repeated police harassment. His cousin Ali Bouazizi uploaded a video of the aftermath to Facebook. Bypassing Tunisian state censors, the video spread rapidly both within the country and internationally. Public anger had already been growing after WikiLeaks published diplomatic cables detailing significant corruption within the Ben Ali regime. The combination of these two events mobilised people in record numbers. Social media allowed for alternate accounts of demonstrations and state violence to circulate. It also allowed protestors to bypass media blackouts aimed at disrupting the movement. The factors which caused the Tunisian revolution had existed for decades. But it was the organisational and informational power of the internet that led to breakthroughs in areas that had long stifled attempted uprisings in the nation.

Nepal: Nepotism, Corruption and an Overnight Ban

While not subject to decades of autocracy comparable to Tunisia, Nepal has likewise suffered through significant political and economic turmoil. Eleven years of relative peace following the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1990 were shattered by the 2001 massacre of the royal family by the Crown Prince himself. This escalated a previously low-intensity civil war, leading to the deaths of over 17,000 people in this tiny Himalayan nation. While these acts of violence calmed after major reforms and the dissolution of the monarchy, corruption and nepotism continued to be rampant. Nepal ranks 109th on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, and while politicians’ children were reported to be living lavishly at public expense, youth unemployment remained at 20%.

Banning of Social Media in Nepal

In mid-2025, Nepalis turned to social media to express grievances over the government’s perceived neglect of youth and the nepotism that benefited the relatives of senior officials. As protests gained momentum online, the ruling government introduced Social Media Bill 2081. This bill required apps to comply with government monitoring, including of content deemed to be “against national interest”. When 26 platforms failed to comply, they were banned overnight in September 2025, a move that intensified rather than suppressed the protests.

Protests Escalate

Since 2011, blackouts, surveillance and online propaganda have increased across the globe. This is a part of what Freedom House’s 2025 report termed a sustained rise in state-led internet restrictions.  In consolidated autocracies like Iran and China, such measures have proven more effective. Nepal’s online generation, however, was quickly able to adapt, with VPN usage spiking 8,000% overnight. With largely unaffected communication channels and increased anger, the protests escalated, and at least 77 protestors were killed by police. Just five days after the controversial ban, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned as fire engulfed the Parliamentary Palace.

Discord Committees and a Gen Z Landslide

The public response to the social media ban demonstrated their centrality to Nepali civic life. The aftermath of the revolution showed how the role of social media had evolved since 2011. An interim government was organised not behind closed doors, but on the social media platform Discord. A poll in a public server on the platform was used to pick Sushila Karki as interim prime minister; someone the public widely regarded as legitimate due to her incorruptible reputation as a judge. Nepal demonstrated that those using the internet could not only mobilise anger, but organise responsibly in the wake of it. The elections that followed reinforced this shift, with 52% of those who voted and 31% of candidates being between the ages of 18-40. In March 2026, Balen Shah and his party were elected in a landslide victory, making him Nepal’s youngest-ever prime minister.

Uncertain Digital Frontier

Across areas like freedom of speech, social media access, and the general state of democracy, Tunisia and Nepal were notably different at the times of their revolutions. Yet, they were united by similar issues: widespread unemployment, corruption, and perceived governmental indifference. The power of social media to spread revolutionary messaging and unite disparate groups against a larger cause was a key catalyst in the success and stable democratic transitions of both countries. Yet the internet that enabled Nepal’s protests is not the internet facing those in more digitally repressed regimes. With internet authoritarianism continuing to rise, it is becoming harder for those in autocracies like Tunisia once were to fight the same battles. As the sophistication of the internet-led revolution has increased, so too have methods to curtail them.