Discord democracy: How Nepal’s GenZ protestors used gaming app to pick PM

Nepal's Gen Z sets history by exercising electoral democracy through a channel on Discord.

After the social media ban, the youth of the country ironically turned to social media to select an interim prime minister following deadly anti-governmental unrest.

The youth group Hami Nepal spearheaded the movement on instant messaging and VoIP social platform to coordinate and unanimously give the name of the next prime minister.

The protest ousted Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s government, which was accused of rampant corruption, nepotism, and being unrepresentative of the youth.

The demonstration was ignited by the bans on social media apps including the Discord itself and resulted in multiple deaths and forced Oli to resign.

Almost 10,000 people joined the Discord server named, “Youth Against Corruption” to discuss the nation’s future.

A real-time poll was conducted on the platform after hours of live-streamed discussion bringing inclusivity and democracy mimicking a real-life parliament system.

The poll results yielded the name of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki as their next leader.

The 73-year-old who has a renowned stance on anti-corruption, was then sworn in as the first woman interim Prime Minister of Nepal on Friday, September 12.

The proponents celebrate the digital assembly as a groundbreaking, open system in place of backroom political relations.

The occasion marks a political experiment of radicalism in digital democracy as it will enable real-time nomination and voting.

Nonetheless, it has serious risks, such as the possibility of being misinformed and manipulated by unknown accounts, according to analysts.

Although the mission of the interim government is to guide the nation to general elections in March 2026, the unusual way it was chosen reflects a radical change in the way a new generation is trying to transform democracy itself.