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How the Taliban Are Using Social Media
As the world’s largest social media company, Facebook owns Instagram and WhatsApp. It has also started trawling non-encrypted content to identify Taliban supporters. While Facebook doesn’t comment on content, the company does encrypt all messages, which makes it difficult to identify the Taliban. For more than 20 years, Afghans have become comfortable in the digital age and had no problem posting about the collapse of the government on their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp.
Social media
The debate over whether to ban the Taliban from social media highlights the increasing power of social media in international politics. While the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan and the extent of their power is still uncertain, companies like Facebook and YouTube continue to treat them as an unreliable insurgent group. The debate over whether to ban the Taliban from Facebook and Twitter is a case study in this. Here are the key facts to consider.
Influence
In recent months, the Taliban have taken advantage of social media to spread their radical agenda. They have joined YouTube, added a Facebook share button to their website, and posted regular updates. Though previously considered to be an insular group, the Taliban are now cultivating an online community of friendly bloggers and commentators who associate them with pan-Islamic and pan-Arab causes and link their mission to popular movements.
Public relations
The Taliban’s presence on WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook appears to be for outside audiences, but the group has also been using the services to interact with the Afghan people. While the majority of their announcements are in English, their messages on social media are written in Arabic and can be difficult to interpret. On the same subject : Who Created Twitter?. They have also been using WhatsApp to share political messages with their supporters. However, their public relations efforts won’t be successful until the Taliban takes steps to respect the rights of women.
Branding
While the United States never knows what is happening in Afghanistan, WhatsApp DMs remain an inscrutable strategic blind spot. What we can be certain of is that the Taliban is setting up a government fairly quickly, and their propaganda is circulating in plain view on Twitter. To see also : How to Change Twitter @. In fact, they are making it possible for the public to find them through public profiles. What we can’t know is what their propaganda looks like, because the U.S. military doesn’t.
Accounts
A recent debate on how the Taliban’s social media accounts operate has shown the power of social media in global politics. While the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, the extent of their power remains undetermined, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube continue to treat them as rogue insurgents. To see also : How to Be Verified on Twitter. This debate has been raging for some time, with no real clear answers emerging. In the meantime, however, Facebook and Twitter are doing everything they can to limit their use of their services.
Bans
The recent debate over whether or not the Taliban should be allowed on social media is an interesting case study in how social media is affecting global politics. While the Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan, the extent of their power is not yet clear, the Taliban are increasingly using social media as a means of governance and to provide services to its citizens in WhatsApp groups. Despite this, the Taliban still remain viewed as a rogue insurgent group on platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
Free speech
Facebook has been a target for the Taliban for years, and recently, the social network took down several accounts linked to the militant group. The New York Times reports that Facebook has cited a number of policy violations in its decision to delete Taliban accounts. But Facebook maintains a strict code of conduct on its site, and has taken a number of steps to protect free speech.
