Facebook is racing to block Taliban Facebook and WhatsApp accounts

August 19, 2021

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Although many profiles have already been banned, the social media company is actively scanning its network for more accounts.

After recent events in Afghanistan, Facebook is under more pressure to remove and ban accounts belonging to Taliban members on its social media and WhatsApp platforms. This comes after the Taliban managed to take control of Afghanistan in a matter of days after US troops withdrew from the war in this region. “The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organization policies,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP. Apparently, the Taliban set up WhatsApp hotlines where citizens could report incidents of violence. Facebook has said that they are not only banning personal accounts of Taliban members, but also official accounts affiliated with the extremist group.

“This includes banning accounts that appear to represent themselves as official accounts of the Taliban. We’re seeking more information from relevant US authorities given the evolving situation in Afghanistan,” they explained. They are also removing accounts that show any sort of support or praise towards the Taliban. To overcome cultural and language barriers, Facebook said it was making use of “a dedicated team of Afghanistan experts, who are native Dari and Pashto speakers and have knowledge of local context.” Facebook says that internationally, the global community is not recognising the Taliban as a legitimate government, which is why it cannot allow it to freely communicate with people using their technology.

A Taliban spokesperson has come forward to say that they are heavily against Facebook’s decision to censor “freedom of speech” on their platforms.