But many of these platforms, including Facebook and its subsidiary WhatsApp, have said they will crack down on Taliban-run accounts or promote them. The Taliban’s efforts to back down or circumvent restrictions on its online activities illustrate the confidence the militant group has become in Western technology companies and the Internet in general – and highlight a possible investment by the group’s government. decades ago, when he directly banned the Internet.
“All in all, various social media platforms and messaging apps have played a vital role in the Taliban’s media strategy,” said Weeda Mehran, a professor and expert in Afghanistan at the University of Exeter who focuses on propaganda of extremist groups.
“The Taliban are really trying to change their narrative and they are really trying to change the way they see them,” he said. “And so I think you’re seeing this change now. It has a lot to do with the huge use of smartphones and the fact that many in Afghanistan now have smartphones … They’ve realized that you can use this technology platforms to really spread your message. “
From imposing bans on the Internet to dodging them
Mehran says the online presence of the Taliban in its current form really began after he was ousted from power in 2001, when the militant group began posting videos and sharing messages online. Since then, he has enthusiastically adopted platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Telegram, none of which existed during his last period in power.
As a result, instead of imposing bans on the Internet, the Taliban are trying to avoid them, at least for now.
“The Taliban are sanctioned as a terrorist organization in accordance with US law and we have banned them from our services in accordance with our dangerous organization policies,” a Facebook spokesman said. A WhatsApp spokesman declined to comment specifically on the ban on the helpline, but said it was “required to comply with U.S. sanctions laws,” which includes banning accounts that appear to be represented as official Taliban accounts “.
YouTube said it will continue to “finish” Taliban-run accounts. Twitter has not actively banned Taliban accounts, but a company spokesman said its “top priority is to keep people safe and that we are vigilant.”
“I think at the end of the day, [the Taliban] i don’t want the internet banned. I don’t think they want YouTube to leave the country, I don’t think they want Google to withdraw, I don’t think they want Facebook or Twitter to just pack up and leave, ”Ghori-Ahmad said.
The relationship between the Taliban and technology platforms can be further complicated if the Taliban receive official recognition from the global diplomatic community, a determination that largely depends on the form the Afghan government now takes.
“If the Taliban allow for an inclusive government, and they … being part of that government, they have essentially gained their legitimacy in Afghanistan, for lack of a better word, because there will be other groups represented,” he said. Mehran. If that happens, it may be harder for Facebook and YouTube to justify keeping the militant group off the platform.
An uncertain future for online expression
The real test of the Taliban’s approach to the Internet may not be what the group says, but what the Afghan people say.
“Looking to the future, the Taliban will surely want to use the technology for their own propaganda and propaganda purposes. But now that it has taken over Afghanistan, it will most likely want to restrict access to social media to Afghan people in their attempt to reduce their access to information, “said Madiha Afzal, a partner in the Brookings Institution’s foreign policy program. “Platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp will have to figure out how to deal with Taliban propaganda, although they are trying to ensure that Afghans retain access to these platforms if the Taliban try to restrict access to them.”
At the same time, the Taliban insist that online content must comply with Islamic law, which experts say could only add to the challenge facing platforms to try to continue operating in the country. “I think it’s going to be a really complicated and delicate balance for a lot of these tech companies to figure out how to navigate this market,” Ghori-Ahmad said.
Beyond that, there is already a widespread fear that the Taliban could use social media in a more sinister way: search for and pick up Afghans who worked with the U.S. government or military.
Twitter is working with the Internet Archive to respond to user requests to remove old tweets and has offered the option to temporarily suspend accounts in case Afghan users cannot access them to delete content. LinkedIn said it has “taken some temporary measures such as limiting the visibility of connections and helping members in the country understand how they can hide their profiles in public view.”
And while the Taliban have tried to project a more moderate image in the days after regaining control, there are no guarantees that they will last, especially when U.S. forces leave the country later this month. After that, it may only be a matter of time before Afghans begin to lose the ability to use social media to talk.
“If the Taliban keep quiet about this and if that’s not accessible to them, that should say a lot to tech companies about the Taliban,” Mehran said, “and they should take that into account when they want to decide whether the Taliban … ‘ls should be allowed to have a presence on these platforms “.