Facebook, which has banned the Taliban from all its applications, on Thursday unveiled measures to protect vulnerable users in Afghanistan, where the fundamentalist Islamist group has seized power.
“During the past week, our teams have been working day and night to do everything possible to help keep people safe,” tweeted Nathaniel Gleicher, the director of safety regulations for the California group.
Following the recommendations of human rights defenders, journalists and NGOs, the social network has implemented a feature that allows a user to “lock their account with one click”.
Lock prevents people who are not in his contacts from uploading or sharing his profile picture or from seeing the content posted on his feed. Instagram users in Afghanistan will receive notifications informing them of methods to protect their account.
“We have also temporarily removed the ability to view a user’s + friend list + and search for profiles for Facebook accounts in Afghanistan,” against the risk of targeting people possibly wanted by the Taliban, added Nathaniel Gleicher.
He then recommends organizations and guides to protect his online activity.
On Tuesday, Facebook shut down a hotline set up on WhatsApp by the Taliban to respond to possible complaints from Afghans.
“We are forced to comply with US laws on sanctions. This includes the ban on accounts that present themselves as official accounts of the Taliban,” said a spokesperson for the courier.
The Taliban responded by criticizing Facebook during their first press conference, which was broadcast online Tuesday.
Asked about their intentions in terms of respect for freedom of expression, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid replied that “the question should be put to those who ensure that they are the guarantors of freedom of expression but who do not ‘do not allow the publication of all information. The Facebook company, it is to them that we must ask the question.
The Islamist group has announced that it will form a government, but “regardless of who holds power, we will take appropriate action against accounts and content that violate our rules,” Facebook insisted.
The platform said it has a team of dedicated experts, who speak the country’s languages, to help them identify possible issues.
juj / len
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