Facebook removes Afghan media pages controlled by Taliban

Facebook has removed the accounts of at least two state-owned media outlets in Afghanistan, the company confirmed – Copyright AFP/File

Facebook has removed the accounts of at least two state-owned media outlets in Afghanistan, the company confirmed Thursday, saying it was complying with laws in the United States listing the Taliban as a “terrorist organisation”.

The Taliban have made liberal use of Facebook and Twitter since seizing power in August last year, and have a firm grip on state-owned media in the country — including radio and TV stations, and newspapers.

While Facebook parent Meta did not list the banned media outlets, state broadcaster National Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) and the government-owned Bakhtar news agency both said that they had been blocked.

The Facebook pages of privately owned media houses seemed unaffected.

“The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under U.S. law and they are banned from using our services,” a Meta spokesperson told AFP in a statement.

“We remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them,” it added.

Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid criticised the blocking, saying it showed “impatience and intolerance” by the US firm.

“The slogan ‘Freedom of expression’ is used to deceive other nations,” he tweeted.

RTA director Ahmadullah Wasiq said in a video statement that the Pashto and Dari-language pages of the organisation on Facebook and Instagram had been closed “for unknown reasons”.

“RTA is a national institution — the voice of the nation,” he said.

Bakhtar also urged Facebook to reconsider, saying on Twitter: “The only goal of this news agency is to share accurate, timely and comprehensive information to its audiences.”

On Thursday, the hashtag “#BanTaliban” was trending on Twitter, with thousands of users calling for Taliban accounts on that platform to be blocked.

The Taliban have made prolific use of Twitter since seizing power.

While most accounts linked to the former Western-backed government have been dormant since the takeover, new “official” ones have proliferated — although none with Twitter’s blue tick of authenticity.