{"id":14132,"date":"2022-07-15T11:16:35","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T11:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/?p=14132"},"modified":"2022-07-15T11:16:36","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T11:16:36","slug":"how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media","title":{"rendered":"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_43 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f54301ce77a\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f54301ce77a\"  class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f54301ce77a\" ><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#How_the_Taliban_Are_Using_Social_Media\" title=\"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media\">How the Taliban Are Using Social Media<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#Social_media\" title=\"Social media\">Social media<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#Influence\" title=\"Influence\">Influence<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#Public_relations\" title=\"Public relations\">Public relations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#Branding\" title=\"Branding\">Branding<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#Accounts\" title=\"Accounts\">Accounts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#Bans\" title=\"Bans\">Bans<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\/#Free_speech\" title=\"Free speech\">Free speech<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_the_Taliban_Are_Using_Social_Media\"><\/span>How the Taliban Are Using Social Media<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:auto; margin:0px 10px; height:auto; max-width:36% max-height:332px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/NCp5SVY.jpg\" align=\"right\" alt=\"how taliban whatsapp twitter facebookbutlervice\"> <\/p>\n<p>As the world&#8217;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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Social_media\"><\/span>Social media<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Influence\"><\/span>Influence<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Public_relations\"><\/span>Public relations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Taliban&#8217;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. They have also been using WhatsApp to share political messages with their supporters. However, their public relations efforts won&#8217;t be successful until the Taliban takes steps to respect the rights of women.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Branding\"><\/span>Branding<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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. In fact, they are making it possible for the public to find them through public profiles. What we can&#8217;t know is what their propaganda looks like, because the U.S. military doesn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Accounts\"><\/span>Accounts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A recent debate on how the Taliban&#8217;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. 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.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bans\"><\/span>Bans<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Free_speech\"><\/span>Free speech<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How the Taliban Are Using Social Media As the world&#8217;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&#8217;t comment on content, the company does encrypt all messages, which makes it difficult to identify the Taliban. For more than 20 years, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v21.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How the Taliban Are Using Social Media - Zeru<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media As the world&#8217;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&#8217;t comment on content, the company does encrypt all messages, which makes it difficult to identify the Taliban. For more than 20 years, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zeru\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-15T11:16:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-15T11:16:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-the-Taliban-Are-Using-Social-Media_14132.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"992\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"558\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lizzie Yates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lizzie Yates\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\",\"name\":\"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media - Zeru\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-15T11:16:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-15T11:16:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/61005d9ec00b94bc50fbaf11b78aa55e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Zeru\",\"description\":\"Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/61005d9ec00b94bc50fbaf11b78aa55e\",\"name\":\"Lizzie Yates\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/19-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/19-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Lizzie Yates\"},\"description\":\"A content marketing strategist with the Zeru team for a little over 5 years, Lizzie Yates specializes in everything digital media with a particular focus on social media and technology. Her passion? To follow how the social media sites like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok are maturing over time, and what businesses can do to keep up. She shares her insights on our blog in a true outpouring of knowledge and expertise. Her knowledge about technology and social media is vast, and she is always willing to share her insights with businesses to help them stay up-to-date with the latest trends.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/author\/writer\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media - Zeru","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media","og_description":"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media As the world&#8217;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&#8217;t comment on content, the company does encrypt all messages, which makes it difficult to identify the Taliban. For more than 20 years, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media","og_site_name":"Zeru","article_published_time":"2022-07-15T11:16:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-15T11:16:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":992,"height":558,"url":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-the-Taliban-Are-Using-Social-Media_14132.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lizzie Yates","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lizzie Yates","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media","url":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media","name":"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media - Zeru","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-07-15T11:16:35+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-15T11:16:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/61005d9ec00b94bc50fbaf11b78aa55e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/how-the-taliban-are-using-social-media#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How the Taliban Are Using Social Media"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/","name":"Zeru","description":"Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/61005d9ec00b94bc50fbaf11b78aa55e","name":"Lizzie Yates","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/19-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/19-150x150.jpg","caption":"Lizzie Yates"},"description":"A content marketing strategist with the Zeru team for a little over 5 years, Lizzie Yates specializes in everything digital media with a particular focus on social media and technology. Her passion? To follow how the social media sites like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok are maturing over time, and what businesses can do to keep up. She shares her insights on our blog in a true outpouring of knowledge and expertise. Her knowledge about technology and social media is vast, and she is always willing to share her insights with businesses to help them stay up-to-date with the latest trends.","url":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/author\/writer"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14132"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14139,"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14132\/revisions\/14139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeru.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}