Facebook bans Taliban, says it will remove all accounts maintained by `terrorist organization`

Kabul: With several countries across the globe giving a cautious response to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, social media giant Facebook on Tuesday said that it has banned the terrorist outfit and will remove all content supporting the insurgents from its platforms.

Facebook said that it considers the Taliban a terrorist organisation. The company further stated that it has a dedicated team of Afghan experts to monitor and remove content linked to the group.

For years, the Taliban has used social media to spread its messages.

Its rapid takeover of Afghanistan raises fresh challenges for technology firms on how to deal with content related to the group. "The Taliban is sanctioned as a 'terrorist organization' under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organization 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 said.

"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," he added.

The social media giant said it does not make decisions about the recognition of national governments but instead follows the "authority of the international community".

Facebook highlighted that the policy applies to all of its platforms including its flagship social media network, Instagram and WhatsApp. However, there are reports that the Taliban is using WhatsApp to communicate.

Facebook said that it would take action if it found accounts on the app to be linked to the group. Rival social media platforms have also come under scrutiny over how they handle Taliban-related content.

Taliban spokesmen have used Twitter to update their hundreds of thousands of followers, as the organisation retook control of Afghanistan. In response to questions about the Taliban`s use of Twitter, a company spokesperson highlighted the policy against violent organisations and hateful conduct.

According to its rules, Twitter does not allow groups that promote terrorism or violence against civilians.