After it was banned in the '90s
The Taliban uses social media as a tool of threat and enticement
Kabul airport witnessed great chaos after the "Taliban" entered the capital.
From the source
Afghan leaders talk to young people in Kabul.
From the source
Many Afghans now have smartphones and participate in social media.
From the source
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The Taliban movement banned the Internet when it was in power during the 1990s, but now it has returned to using this digital technology to threaten and entice the Afghan people, after realizing its importance in bolstering its power and status.
In one of the viral videos, a Taliban official is seen assuring female health workers that they can keep their jobs.
In another passage, the movement reassures the Sikh nationalists, who are a religious minority, that they are under its protection.
The movement's actions are gaining new legitimacy in Kabul, through what appears in the videos of the detention of thief "Taliban" fighters at gunpoint.
The Taliban has turned social media into a powerful tool to tame the opposition and spread its messages.
Now that she is in control of the country, she is using thousands of Twitter accounts - some official, some anonymous - to assuage the fear of a population that has become more dependent than ever on social media for their daily lives.
contradiction
The images of peace and stability that the Taliban are publishing contrast sharply with the scenes broadcast by the media around the world of the chaotic evacuation from Kabul airport, which America organizes for its forces, citizens and collaborators with it. before the movement.
All of this reflects how adept the movement has mastered the use of this powerful digital tool over the years of the insurgency.
As the Taliban approached the capital, Kabul, many critics of the movement and supporters of the US-backed government resorted to covert action.
But the Taliban, through a social media campaign in recent weeks, has actually been able to encourage Afghan security forces to lay down their arms, showing that the movement is able to effectively promote its message.
“The movement realized that in order to win the war you had to convince people through these means,” said Thomas Johnson, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. “In urban areas, all Afghans have smartphones, and I think it will be very useful. For (the Taliban) they will use social media to deliver their message to the Afghan people.”
Online, the Taliban are subjected to the same tactics they have used to consolidate their power, just as movements like the Arab Spring and others have used social media to organize and rally.
Any imposition of restrictions on communications between Afghanistan and the rest of the world will help the opponents of the "Taliban" expose any atrocities committed by the movement, and mobilize support for its resistance.
Already, hashtags such as #Donot Change National Flag are popular, which receive a mixture of internal and external support.
The "Taliban" has responded to such calls and reports alleging the movement's perpetration of repression and revenge killings, with messages confirming its desire for peace and unity. The Taliban have portrayed Americans and other foreigners as the main cause of the long years of conflict, an idea that I underscore using stunning photographs this week from Kabul airport.
With footage circulating of desperate refugees clinging to planes, one of the movement's most famous supporters, Qari Saeed Khosti, struck a chord with the Taliban.
And he wrote in a tweet on Twitter, using colloquial language, "I cried so hard to see your situation, we cried for you friends of the occupation, we cried for you 20 years, we told you that Tommy Ghani - meaning President Ashraf Ghani - will never be loyal to you." He adds, "We have forgiven you, I swear to God, we are not with this situation, please go back to your homes."
However, the Taliban - a group that during its 1996-2001 rule was known for public executions, and sometimes stonings - kept its messages largely optimistic.
Taliban journalists roam the streets of newly captured cities with microphones covered in blue, and provide videos to assure residents of their support.
Residents know
"They (the Taliban) don't need to publish content to remind the population that they are savages, the population knows that," says Benjamin Jensen, a fellow at the Atlantic Council. "What they need are images that show they can rule the country and integrate it into the international community."
The Taliban managed to spread much of what they wanted online.
Even as it continues to be banned on major social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, dozens of new accounts have emerged.
The hardliners' efforts have focused on Twitter, where the Taliban is not directly banned.
A teacher at Nangarhar University in Jalalabad, who asked not to be named, says that a large number of his students who participated in anti-Taliban campaigns have deactivated their social media accounts.
He said that the generation born after the overthrow of the Taliban regime has digital data that they should hide.
Under the US-backed government, cell phone towers were set up all over the country.
The number of mobile phone users jumped to more than 22 million in 2019 from just 1 million in 2005, according to Statista, a market research company.
Experts estimate that 70% of the population has mobile phones.
Some opponents of the Taliban issued calls to resist, while others remained silent and rescinded statements that might put them at risk.
This week, a female soccer player warned her former teammates to delete the photos.
Facebook and Twitter confirmed that they would take steps to protect the accounts.
The Taliban will likely seek to block messages from abroad, as China and Russia do, but instead of deletions and bans, the Taliban has resorted to flooding social media with its own messages.
The Taliban view the Internet as a new tool for propaganda, an extension of written messages and guerrilla radio stations.
One report showed how the movement used popular hashtags to intimidate voters during the 2019 elections.
English messages
To gain foreign acceptance in recent weeks, Taliban leaders have published letters in English and broadcast press events live.
Their official website publishes messages in English, Pashto, Dari, Urdu and Arabic.
A member of the Taliban committee said on social media, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak, that the Taliban are benefiting from their lessons during the summer offensive that brought the group to power. He said that quick and smart messages were a major part of the attack, noting that the Taliban had trained and equipped soldiers with microphones and smart phones to report what was happening on the front lines as their forces stormed new territory. The messages, a mixture of offers of pardon and intimidation designed to create a sense of inevitable victory, may have helped hasten the process of coercion and persuasion that led to many of the best cities falling without a fight. “Smartphones have been a very successful weapon for the Taliban, and they now have a special love for smartphones,” says Abdul Sayed, an independent researcher who focuses on the group's social media tactics.
On Friday last week, when Taliban forces took control of the main city of Herat, they distributed photos and videos of militia leaders talking to a well-known local pro-government leader, Ismail Khan, and opponents of the Taliban. The commander appears unarrested and appears relieved.
The message, says Sayed, was clear: "If we can treat our great enemy, Ismail Khan, with this respect, no one will be in danger."
In Kabul, several Taliban-trained journalists roamed the streets, often carrying a microphone with the logo of the group's propaganda website displayed.
In a video posted on the Twitter account of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, a reporter interviewed residents of the Shahr-e-Naw district of Kabul.
When the reporter asks a young boy about the capture of the capital, the boy replies: "We are happy and we live in peace."
Many voices that once argued against the Taliban's publications fell silent for fear of reprisals.
Digital rights groups say many people linked to the former government or the United States have closed their social media profiles, left chat groups and deleted old messages.
signs of resistance
However, social media carried some signs of resistance.
On Tuesday, a video of a small group of women protesting in Kabul in the presence of Taliban fighters went viral.
The next day, videos spread of an incident in Jalalabad, when the Taliban opened fire on a group of young men who raised the flag of the militants and replaced it with the flag of the collapsed Afghan government.
The Nangarhar University teacher says he does not believe that the new generation who grew up in Kabul under the ousted government will easily accept Taliban rule and anticipate new waves of online resistance.
"I am afraid that (the Taliban) will restrict social media soon because of this," he said.
Digital rights groups say many people associated with the former government or the United States have closed their social media profiles, left chat groups, and deleted old messages.
Some opponents of the Taliban issued calls to resist, while others remained silent and rescinded statements that might put them at risk. This week, a female soccer player warned her former teammates to delete the photos. Facebook and Twitter confirmed that they would take steps to protect the accounts.
• The Taliban was able to turn social media into a powerful tool to tame the opposition and broadcast its messages.
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