Kathmandu, Nepal: Protests led by Nepal’s younger generation are slowly returning to normal. Authorities lifted the curfew on Saturday following the appointment of Sushila Karki as the country’s interim Prime Minister on Friday. Interestingly, her selection was carried out through an online voting process. Media sources report that the nation’s youth cast their votes using the Discord app.

Discord, created in 2015 by Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevsky, was initially intended for gamers. It later introduced chat functions that did not interfere with gameplay. By 2016, Discord had amassed over 25 million users. Its popularity surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, attracting a large number of Gen-Z users. The platform has since expanded beyond gaming, with numerous servers catering to a wide range of interests, transforming it into a major communication hub.

Through various servers and channels, users actively engage in discussions. Young people in Nepal have relied on Discord to organize their protests, selecting Sushila Karki through the “Youth Against Corruption” server, which has around 130,000 members. Multiple polls were held within this server to determine the next leader of Nepal. However, reports indicate that not all participants in the voting process were from Nepal, with some international users also taking part. The online vote was reportedly conducted to supervise the process ahead of choosing a permanent leader.