During the riots that set the capital and several regions of the country ablaze on 9 September, the offices of at least a dozen news outlets and three media organisations were set on fire or vandalised. In Kathmandu’s Thapathali neighborhood, rioters burned the premises of the leading private media group, Kantipur Media Group (KMG). The offices of Public Service Broadcasting Nepal (PSBN), the public broadcaster that owns Radio Nepal and Nepal Television and which is housed at the seat of the Nepalese government, Singha Durbar, were also vandalised.

The day before, mass protests were violently repressed by security forces, leaving at least 19 people dead. Young Nepalese citizens started the demonstrations to denounce the political elite’s corruption and the government’s suspension of 26 social media platforms on the grounds that they were not officially registered in accordance with new government directives. Three journalists covering the events for Kantipur TV, Naya Patrika and Nepalpress, and a freelance journalist, were injured by rubber bullets fired by the police.

“These violent attacks targeting media outlets during an uprising against the authorities are unacceptable. So is the police violence that injured four journalists. In times of crisis and instability, it is more essential than ever to protect the right to inform and to be informed. RSF calls on the country’s new interim Prime Minister, Sushila Karki, President Ram Chandra Paudel and the army — which has taken control of the country — to guarantee the protection of journalists. It is also vital that press freedom be set as a precondition for the recognition of any future government.

Kathmandu ablaze

In the capital, the offices of Kantipur Media Group — publisher of the daily Kantipur and its online edition ekantipur.com — along with the offices of the daily The Kathmandu Post located in the same building, were set on fire by rioters in the Thapathali neighborhood. The homes of Kailash Sirohiya, owner of the Kantipur Media Group, and Rameshwor Thapa, owner of the Annapurna Media Network conglomerate, were also set on fire.

Attacks also targeted Kantipur TV, Radio Kantipur and the daily Annapurna Post in the Tinkune neighborhood, causing major damage. At the Kantipur TV studio, journalists were broadcasting live when protesters stormed the newsroom. The editor-in-chief, Bijaya Paudel, smashed a glass door to help staff escape as the building and vehicles outside burned. The assailants nonetheless beat Deputy News editor Rupesh Shrestha and his colleague, journalist Aneel Bogati. The channel’s entire infrastructure was destroyed. Avenues Television, ABC Television and ITV Nepal were also forced off the air due to damage to infrastructure.

At the Annapurna Post, protesters forced staff to evacuate the premises before setting the building on fire, leaving the offices in ruins. The Press Center Nepal, a Maoist journalists’ organization based in Kathmandu, was set ablaze, and the offices of the private outlet ThahaKhabar.com were vandalized, according to RSF.

Local media attacked 

Other media across the country reported similar attacks. Vehicles belonging to Radio Jagaran were set on fire in Butwal. In the Kaski district, the motorcycles of Radio Dhorbarahi staff were destroyed and protesters damaged the camera of Kendrabhag.com’s editor-in-chief, Govinda Subedi, as he was covering a protest.

A journalist with the Mero Shaan TV channel, Rajeev Sah, was assaulted while covering the arson attack on a police station in Sarlahi, on the southern plains of Madhesh Province. In Chitwan, also in Bagmati Province, the offices of the news site Safal Khabar.com and the daily Chure Sandesh were looted and set on fire. The communications equipment of Kalika FM radio was destroyed, and the home of the director of the news site Kapurbot Media, Santosh Deuja, was looted and set on fire. Another affected city was Ilam, in the east of the country, where the offices of Nepalvani FM radio and the Ilam Express Daily were vandalised.

In Madhesh Province, the Saptari district branch office of the Federation of Nepali Journalists were also vandalized during the protests.

Rubber bullets fired by police 

On the eve of these riots, 8 September, four journalists were injured by the police while covering demonstrations against corruption and the ban on social media in Kathmandu: Kantipur TV cameraman Shyam Shrestha, Naya Patrika photojournalist Dipendra Dhungana, Nepalpress photojournalist Umesh Karki and freelance journalist Shambhu Dangal were hit by rubber bullets fired by security forces. Deshsanchar reporter Barsha Shah was also injured when struck by a stone while covering a protest.

Nepal ranks 90th out of 180 countries and territories in the RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index. During a mission carried out in May 2025, RSF called on the Nepalese authorities to urgently take concrete measures for press freedom.