Viral TikTok videos claim Nepal imposed lockdown again. But, that’s false

A new coronavirus variant known as ‘ Omicron ‘ is spreading in various parts of the world including in India. Although Nepal has not detected Omicron cases so far, there are growing fears that countries could impose new lockdowns to stop the new variant from spreading. Amid this situation, some unscrupulous TikTok users have posted video clips claiming the government has imposed a lockdown starting November 30.

A Tiktok account named news_24npllite , on November 27, 2021, posted a video clip with a superimposed headline that read “Lockdown notice issued by the government comes into effect from 6 am Tuesday.” The 11-second TikTok post has received more than 127,000 reactions and has been viewed more than 2.5 million times. By Friday (December 3) afternoon, it had been shared by 9,568 users. The clip, which has a logo of web-based Nepali news media ‘Nepal Live’ on the top right corner, shows an empty road, an oncoming ambulance, and police personnel checking scooters. The caption of the video reads “Lockdown begins.”