Facebook closes Taliban-controlled Afghan media accounts

Facebook announced this Thursday that it was shutting down the accounts of at least two Afghan state media outlets, citing US law that classifies the Taliban as a terrorist organization.

Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have made extensive use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and have established tight control over Afghan state media. The state agency RTA and the state agency Bakhtar complained that their Facebook accounts were closed.

“The Taliban are being sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and are prohibited from using our services,” a spokesman for Meta, the social network’s parent company, said in a written statement to AFP, adding: “We maintain closed accounts. by or on behalf of the Taliban, and to ban any praise, support or representation from them.”

RTA director Ahmadullah Wasik said in a video message that his organization’s Dari and Pashto language pages were taken down on Facebook and Instagram, also owned by Meta, “for unknown reasons.” “RTA is a national institution, the voice of the nation,” he said, lamenting the decision.

Bakhtar also asked Facebook to reconsider the closure of the account, assuring via Twitter that “the sole purpose of this news agency is to share accurate, timely and complete information with its audience.”

For his part, Taliban government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid criticized the ban, which he said showed Facebook’s “impatience and intolerance”. “The slogan ‘Free Speech’ is being used to deceive other nations,” he tweeted.

This Thursday, the slogan “#BanTaliban” became a trend on Twitter, with thousands of users calling on the social network to also block accounts associated with the Taliban, which the US Department of the Treasury calls a terrorist organization, but not the US Department of the Treasury. State Department.