Facebook has removed the accounts of at least two state-run media outlets in Afghanistan, the company confirmed Thursday and said it complied with laws in the United States listing the Taliban as a “terrorist organization.”
Since seizing power in August last year, the Taliban have made extensive use of Facebook and Twitter and have a firm grip on the country’s state media, including radio, television and newspapers.
While Facebook parent company Meta did not list the banned media, state broadcaster National Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) and state news agency Bakhtar both said they had been blocked.
The Facebook pages of private media houses seemed unaffected.
“The Taliban are sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and are barred from using our services,” a Meta spokesman told AFP in a statement.
“We are removing accounts run by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibiting praise, support and representation for them,” she added.
Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid criticized the lockdown, saying it showed “impatience and intolerance” by the US firm.
“The slogan ‘Freedom of Speech’ is used to deceive other nations,” he tweeted.
RTA director Ahmadullah Wasiq said in a video statement that the organization’s Pashto and Dari pages on Facebook and Instagram had been shut down “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 sole purpose of this news outlet is to provide accurate, timely and comprehensive information to its audience.”
On Thursday, the hashtag “#BanTaliban” was trending on Twitter, with thousands of users demanding the suspension of Taliban accounts on this platform.
The Taliban have used Twitter extensively since coming to power.
While most accounts linked to the former Western-backed government have been dormant since the takeover, new “official” ones have proliferated – though none with Twitter’s blue authenticity check mark.
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