WhatsApp, YouTube shun Taliban, shut its helplines & ban accounts

Several social media platforms have decided to act against the Taliban who have taken over power in war-torn Afghanistan. Facebook’s messaging app WhatsApp has shut down a complaints’ helpline for the people of Afghanistan to contact the Taliban. The helpline group was set by the Taliban after it gained control over Afghanistan after 20 years.

Google-owned YouTube has said that it would not allow accounts that are operated by the Taliban on its site.

Facebook has reiterated its ban on accounts praising, supporting, or representing the Taliban from its platforms, including WhatsApp and Instagram, saying it would remove “accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban.”

Also read: Taliban stops trade with India, blocks key Pak-Afghan channels

“The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organisation policies,” media reports quoting a company spokesperson said.

Facebook designates “dangerous organisations” into three tiers, the first one being subjected to “the most extensive enforcement.” Entities in tier 1 include terrorist, hate, and criminal organisations.

While the Taliban has been banned from Facebook’s platforms for “years,” the company did not reveal when exactly the restrictions came into force.

In Kabul and elsewhere, hundreds of people, especially women, are shown desperately trying to flee the country due to fears about their freedom of speech. As soon as the terrorist organisation took over, its fighters painted the images of women on the storefronts black around Kabul city.

Also read: Our focus is on ensuring security, safe return of Indians from Kabul: Jaishankar

The Financial Times reported that WhatsApp has shut down helpline groups operated by the Taliban. Although WhatsApp has not commented on the matter, it has said that the “service was obligated by US sanctions laws to ban accounts that appear to represent themselves as official accounts of the Taliban.”

Facebook also blocked emergency helpline numbers issued by the organisation along with other Taliban channels. The numbers were reportedly issued for civilians to report cases of loot and violence.

The social media platform has been accused by a Taliban spokesperson of censoring its content.

YouTube also said that it would terminate all accounts related to the Taliban. “YouTube complies with all applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws, including relevant US sanctions. As such, if we find an account believed to be owned and operated by the Afghan Taliban, we terminate it,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

However, Twitter, on the other hand, does not plan to introduce a blanket policy on Taliban activity on its platform. The company said that it takes action against any account that violates its guidelines.

“The situation in Afghanistan is rapidly evolving. We’re also witnessing people in the country using Twitter to seek help and assistance,” a company spokesperson said.