Dhaka, Sept. 6 -- Nepal's government has said it will shut off access to major social media platforms, including Facebook and X, after they failed to comply with authorities' registration requirements.

The move, announced on Thursday, is part of what the government says is an effort to curb online hate, rumours and cybercrime.

Companies were given a deadline of Wednesday to register with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and provide a local contact, grievance handler and person responsible for self-regulation or face shutdown.

"Unregistered social media platforms will be deactivated today onwards," ministry spokesman Gajendra Kumar Thakur told AFP.

Communications and IT Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said, "We g...