The Taliban’s dilemma on social media

(CNN) – Days after retaking control of Afghanistan, earlier this month, the Taliban took advantage of their first press conference to lash out at Facebook in response to a question about freedom of expression.

“This question should be asked of those people who proclaim themselves promoters of freedom of expression, who do not allow the publication of all information”, said the group’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid. “I can ask Facebook. […] You have to ask them this question. “

The response, which implied that Facebook was restricting free speech, hinted at a curious power dynamic: Although the Taliban are pushing for US forces to leave the country, they remain dependent on US social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, to spread its message, both within Afghanistan and beyond its borders. On Twitter, for example, several Taliban spokespersons, such as Mujahid and Suhail Shaheen, have active, unverified accounts, each with more than 300,000 followers.

But many of those platforms, including Facebook and its WhatsApp affiliate, have said they will crack down on accounts run by or promoting the Taliban. The Taliban’s efforts to counter or circumvent restrictions on its online activities illustrate the dependence the Islamist group has acquired on Western tech companies and the internet in general, and highlight a possible reversal by the regime regarding his first period in power, decades ago, when he totally banned the Internet.

“Overall, various social media platforms and messaging apps have played a vital role in the Taliban’s media strategy,” said Weeda Mehran, professor and Afghanistan expert at the University of Exeter, who focuses on propaganda by the Taliban. extremist groups.

Those platforms are now serving an important purpose for the Taliban, who are regaining control of Afghanistan. Until now, the group has focused on cultivating a more sanitized and rehabilitated image than the brutality for which it became known the last time it was in power. And he sees platforms like Facebook and Twitter as key to that effort, both at home and abroad, according to Safiya Ghori-Ahmad, director of the political consulting firm McLarty Associates and a former State Department adviser on Afghanistan.

“The Taliban are trying to change their narrative and the way they are viewed,” he said. “And I think you are seeing that change now. A lot has to do with the huge use of smartphones and the fact that many in Afghanistan now have smartphones. […] They have realized that they can use these technological platforms to spread their message. “

From imposing internet bans to circumventing them

The Taliban’s current approach to media and technology is in stark contrast to what they had at the time they were in command in the 1990s and early 2000s. At the time, they imposed television bans already the still incipient Internet, explaining that this last measure was intended to “control everything that is incorrect, obscene, immoral and contrary to Islam.”

Mehran claims that the Taliban’s online presence, in its current form, really began after they were ousted from power in 2001, when the Islamist group began posting videos and sharing messages online. Since then, he has enthusiastically embraced platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Telegram, none of which existed during his last period in power.

That embrace has coincided with an increase in internet use across Afghanistan over the past decade. In 2019, the country had almost 10 million internet users and around 23 million mobile phone users, and 89% of Afghans could access telecommunications services, according to the latest figures available from the country’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Only Facebook Messenger has 3 million users in Afghanistan, according to the ministry.

As a result, instead of imposing internet bans, the Taliban find themselves trying to circumvent them, at least for now.

While the United States Government and the world community deliberate on the degree of recognition of the extremist group as the official Government of Afghanistan, some companies of Silicon Valley they have taken action on the matter.

Earlier this month, Facebook reiterated its ban on the Taliban across all of its platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, with the latter I would have closed a help line of the Taliban in Kabul and other Taliban accounts.

“The Taliban are sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our dangerous organization policies,” a Facebook spokesperson said. A WhatsApp spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the helpline ban, but said it was “required to adhere to United States sanctions laws,” including “a ban on accounts that appear to represent themselves as official taliban accounts. “

YouTube said it will continue to shut down accounts run by the Taliban. Twitter has not actively banned Taliban accounts, but a company spokesman said its “top priority is keeping people safe, and we remain vigilant.”

“I think at the end of the day, [los talibanes] they don’t want the internet banned. I don’t think they want YouTube to pull out of the country, I don’t think they want Google to pull out, I don’t think they want Facebook or Twitter to pack up and leave, “Ghori-Ahmad said.

The relationship between the Taliban and technology platforms may be further complicated if the Taliban are officially recognized by the global diplomatic community, a determination that largely depends on the form the Afghan government now takes.

“If the Taliban allow an inclusive government, and they … are part of that government, then they have essentially gained, for lack of a better word, their legitimacy in Afghanistan, because other groups are going to be represented,” Mehran said. If this happens, it could be more difficult for companies like Facebook and YouTube to justify the exclusion of the extremist group from the platform.

An uncertain future for freedom of expression on the Internet

The true test of the Taliban’s approach to the Internet may not be what the group says, but what it allows the Afghan people to say.

There has already been a wave of dissent online, with videos of protests in the streets of Kabul and of the terms in the Afghan capital that have been widely shared on social media. But if that dissent continues to grow, the Taliban could be more aggressive in restricting Internet access to the population they hope to rule.

“Going forward, the Taliban will undoubtedly want to use the technology for their own public relations and propaganda purposes. But now that they have taken control of Afghanistan, in all likelihood they will want to restrict social media access to the population. Afghan in their attempt to reduce their access to information, “said Madiha Afzal, a fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. “Platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp will have to figure out how to deal with Taliban propaganda, while trying to ensure that Afghans maintain their access to these platforms if the Taliban try to restrict access.”

At the same time, the Taliban insist that online content must comply with Islamic law, which experts say could increase the challenge that platforms face in trying to continue operating in the country. “I think it’s going to be a really tricky and delicate balance for a lot of these tech companies to figure out how to navigate that market,” Ghori-Ahmad said.

Furthermore, there is already widespread fear that the Taliban may use social media in a more sinister way – to find and hunt down Afghans working with the US government or military.

Facebook introduced a one-click tool for its Afghan users to block their profiles last week and is introducing pop-up alerts on Instagram in Afghanistan detailing how to protect one’s account, the company’s head of Security Policy said. , Nathaniel Gleicher, in a series of tweets. “We are working closely with our industry, civil society and government counterparts to provide all the support we can to help protect people,” Gleicher said.

Twitter is working with the Internet archive to address user requests to remove older tweets and has offered the option to temporarily suspend accounts in case Afghan users cannot access them to remove content. LinkedIn said it “has taken some temporary measures, including limiting the visibility of connections, and helping members in the country understand how they can hide their profiles from public view.”

And while the Taliban have tried to project a more moderate image in the days since they regained control, there is no guarantee that that will last, especially when US forces leave the country on Aug. 31. After that, it may only be a matter of time before Afghans begin to lose the ability to use social media to express themselves.

“If the Taliban silence social media and Afghans can’t access it, that should say a lot to tech companies about the Taliban,” Mehran said, “and they should take that into account when deciding whether the Taliban should have a presence on those. platforms “.