As the Taliban took control of Kabul, residents are deleting photos from Facebook, Twitter, their mobile phones, and social media accounts. They do this to avoid something that could somehow link them to people from Western nations. International human rights groups, the Afghan military, or the recently collapsed Afghan government.
The Taliban has remained a contradiction of sorts. The group, which retook control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces. It was able to defeat the far better equipped Afghan Army. they were able to achieve this despite lacking tanks, artillery, and support infrastructures.
With the quick withdrawal of the U.S. Military from Afghanistan after two 20years in the country, social media platforms have a complex new set of policy decisions.
The Taliban has been social-media-savvy for years, but those companies will face new questions. As the notoriously brutal, repressive group seeks to present itself as Afghanistan’s legitimate governing body. Given its ubiquity among political leaders and governments, social media will likely play an even more central role for the Taliban as it seeks to cement control and move toward governing.
According to NBC News, three people in Kabul said they had deleted documents and photos from their phones. Any document that might provoke the ire of the Taliban. Some of these documents include photos with Afghan officials, pictures of the Afghan flag, and photos with foreign colleagues. Most of the content deleted was likely hosted on social media platforms like Facebook.
All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were afraid of being sought out by the Taliban.
Facebook and Twitter Action on The Issue
However, the Taliban who in the past used some modern technology for recruiting and propaganda. The Group used social media to spread its message. Facebook and other platforms had banned the group as it was sanctioned as a terrorist organization under U.S. law.
According to TechCrunch, Facebook has taken some early precautions to protect its users from potential reprisals as the Taliban seizes power. Through Twitter, Facebook’s Nathaniel Gleicher announced a set of new measures the platform rolled out over the last week. The company added a “one-click” way for people in Afghanistan to instantly lock their accounts, hiding posts on their timeline and preventing anyone they aren’t friends with from downloading or sharing their profile picture.
Facebook has also removed the ability for users to view and search anyone’s friend’s list for people located in Afghanistan. On Instagram, pop-up alerts will provide Afghanistan-based users with information on how to quickly lock down their accounts.
The Taliban has long been banned on Facebook under the company’s rules against dangerous organizations. “The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under U.S. law … This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them,” a Facebook spokesperson told the BBC.