Campaign « Remove » on social networks and control of the Taliban movement…

With the Taliban taking control of the Afghan capital Kabul and the majority of the country, many have chosen to leave Afghanistan through the capital’s airport, and those unlucky have started to remove photos from their social media accounts.

NBC News reported that many in Afghanistan have removed images from their social media accounts of Westerners, international rights groups, or the former Afghan government.

Three Afghans in the capital Kabul said they had removed documents from their phones that could provoke the Taliban, such as pictures with Afghan officials, an Afghan flag or photographs with foreign colleagues.

The three spoke to the US network on condition that they were not named for fear of the Taliban, whose behavior on the ground differs from the cordial statements their leaders make.

An Afghan student said that her parents, who were on their way from the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to the capital Kabul, were searched by the Taliban, who demanded that they hand over their phones.

The Taliban were looking for pictures of military personnel or army officers, she said.

She said her uncle, who has health problems, denied having a telephone with him and after searching him, the Taliban found the phone and tried to beat it.

She continued: “They asked my uncle if he was a military commander.”Eventually, a relative intervened and explained to the gunmen that the elderly man had health problems.

She said: “I deleted some things for fear they would search my phone.”

Delete content

Removing content from social networks in Afghanistan is no easy task, and digital security experts at human rights organizations in neighboring Afghanistan say social networks have been slow to help Afghans remove content on their pages.

According to Access Now’s Asian policy director and senior lawyer, Raman Shima, “You cannot access Afghan language signals and resources on social media at this time.”

“There is no guarantee that you (as an Afghan) will receive an article from the Facebook Help Center,” said Shima, who works for a non-profit organization that protects digital rights.

In Kabul, many Afghans, worried about being harmed by the Taliban, are urging friends and family to modify their digital records, but are refraining from deleting the accounts altogether, as they are an important means of communication in a country like Afghanistan.

In the face of fierce criticism, Facebook has moved on Afghanistan, announcing new benefits for Afghan users such as clicking a button to quickly lock the account.