Facebook continues to ban Taliban from operating Afghan government accounts

Facebook continues to ban Taliban from operating Afghan government accounts
August 18, 2021, 2:34 am

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According to the Sky News, Facebook has confirmed that the Taliban will continue to be banned from operating Afghan government accounts on its platforms.

A Facebook spokesperson told Sky News, "the Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organisation policies."

another media outlet, the New Republic said, social media remains one of the best sources for finding out what’s happening in Afghanistan and, to some extent, hearing from the Taliban, which, however violent, is the next government of the country.

And according to the New Republic, the notion that the semilegitimate government of a country can now be banned wholesale from major communications platforms seems fraught.

The Sky News said, Facebook explained that its Dangerous Organisation designation "means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them".

The spokesperson said a dedicated team of Afghanistan experts "who are native Dari and Pashto speakers and have knowledge of local context" are monitoring developments.

"Facebook does not make decisions about the recognised government in any particular country but instead respects the authority of the international community in making these determinations.

The spokesperson added, "regardless of who holds power, we will take the appropriate action against accounts and content that breaks our rules."

According to wcti12, the statement came after reports that the Taliban was using WhatsApp to message Kabul residents during its takeover of the city. Facebook indicated that it would take action to remove those accounts as well.

The News website added, the Taliban have long-used encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegram, which prompted the Afghan government to threaten to block those services in the country several years ago.

The Sky News added, an account belonging to the Taliban, known by the supposed pseudonym Zabihullah Mujahid, has been active on Twitter since 2017.

The group launched an official YouTube channel called Istiqlal Media in 2009 although this channel has since been removed.

A spokesperson for Google did not respond to Sky News' enquiries about the company's policies towards the group.

Source: news agencies

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