Facebook to continue ban on Taliban content on its platforms

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – Two days after the Taliban took effective control of Afghanistan, Facebook will continue its ban on Taliban content on its platforms because it considers the organization a terrorist group, the social media giant told the BBC on Tuesday.

“The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organisation policies. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them,” a Facebook spokesperson told the BBC.

"We also have a dedicated team of Afghanistan experts, who are native Dari and Pashto speakers and have knowledge of local context, helping to identify and alert us to emerging issues on the platform,” the spokesperson said.

Facebook added that it does not make decisions about the recognition of national governments, but instead follows the “authority of the international community.”

The ban on Taliban content also applies to other platforms Facebook own, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

The Taliban’s retaking of control of Afghanistan has also put the spotlight on how other social media companies are dealing with the situation.

Taliban spokesmen have used Twitter to send updates to their followers.

A Twitter spokesperson said the company has policies against violent groups and hateful conduct. Twitter also does not allow groups on its platform that promote terrorism or violence against civilians.

The BBC also contacted Google-owned YouTube for its comment on its policies toward the Taliban, but did not get an immediate response.