Facebook is blocking Taliban accounts and whatsapp

The Taliban are sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under American law, and we have banned them from our services according to our policies of the dangerous Organisation”, a Facebook spokesperson for AFP said.

The Facebook movement closed a telephone line what the Taliban had created to get complaints about violence and looting, according to the Financial Times.

A spokesman for the WhateverApp said in an email for AFP that the company is required to pursue US sanctions.

This includes stopping accounts that seem to represent themselves as the official account of the Taliban. We are looking for more information from relevant US authorities given the developing situation in Afghanistan,” said the company.

This means that we remove accounts held by or on behalf of the Taliban and stop praising, supporting and representation of them. ”

The news comes with social media platforms facing pressure to block accounts used by Taliban since the offensive, which led to the country's alleged war-torn takeover.

Facebook said it was using a dedicated team of Afghan experts who are local speakers and have knowledge of the local context” to help run policies.

Our <x0) teams are closely monitoring this situation as it evolves. Facebook does not make decisions for the government in any particular country, but rather respects the authority of the international community in taking those definitions”, Facebook said.

A Taliban spokesman, meanwhile, criticised Facebook for blocking “the freedom of the word” in the country as a result of the American firm's crackdown.

At a broadcast press conference, the Taliban official answered a question about freedom of expression, saying: “Pyet should be asked to those who are claiming to be promoters of freedom of speech that do not allow the publication of all information, Facebook company, this question should be asked to them”.