Twitter continues to give a Taliban spokesman a platform on its website as the terrorist group ravages Afghanistan, but it won’t budge on its permanent ban on former President Donald Trump.
Twitter has long claimed it cracks down on misinformation and violence. In January, the Big Tech giant banned then-President Trump over what it claimed were fears of “further incitement of violence” shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
At the time, Twitter said Trump tweeted several damning things that justified expelling him from the platform. Other social media companies such as Facebook and Snapchat quickly joined the campaign to censor and bar the Republican from sharing his thoughts digitally.
The Taliban, a violent terrorist group, is known for murdering thousands of people, mistreating women, and hating Americans, but at least one of their spokesmen continues to operate on Twitter and spew propaganda without any retribution from the Big Tech company.
The account in question is technically unverified but has more than 285,000 followers as of Monday morning and is actively tweeting updates and lies about the group’s advance in Kabul.
I thought @Twitter was cracking down on "misinformation"? pic.twitter.com/DQd1t0H4KI
— Gabe Kaminsky (@Gabe__Kaminsky) August 16, 2021
The bio of the account brags that the account is the “Official Twitter Account of the Spokesman of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid,” who has spent years airing the Taliban’s agenda to various media outlets. In his tweets, Mujahid falsely claims that “the situation in Kabul is under control” and that “no danger is posed” to the international embassies located in the Afghanistan capital.
This is not the first time Big Tech has refused to take action against the Taliban. Reporting from the Washington Post and other outlets suggests the Taliban has expanded its presence on social media and often uses those apps to communicate its messages, plans, and plots to overthrow the Afghanistan government without retribution.
You’re going to want to read this. It appears that American social media companies aided and abetted the Taliban overthrow of Afghanistan while simultaneously suppressing free political discourse in the United States. https://t.co/rJwCKSEz9a
— GINNI THOMAS STAN (@JonSchweppe) August 16, 2021
Just this weekend, the Taliban used Facebook-owned WhatsApp to alert residents of the capital city of Kabul to its successful takeover.
The Taliban let the residents of Kabul know they were in control through WhatsApp, gave them numbers to call if they ran into any problems. https://t.co/TPOZt8AQsm pic.twitter.com/QhggIWYymx
— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) August 15, 2021
The terrorist group also used the Big Tech platform to create doxing hotlines and emergency broadcast systems without any apparent penalties or threat of suspension from Facebook.
#Taliban are moving fast and said to have appointed Mullah Shirin Akhund as the new governor of #Kabul. The group’s “complaint commission” publicised WhatsApp numbers via social media for city residents to contact the commission “if they face threats from anyone.”#Afghanistan
— Ayaz Gul (@AyazGul64) August 15, 2021
The Taliban has controlled Kabul for less than a day, and has already set up an emergency broadcast system and 9-1-1 emergency services call system using WhatsApp.
It turns out, illiterate goat farmers can provide more reliable Civic services than the Detroit City Council.
— Justin O'Donnell, Extremist (@ODonnell4NH) August 15, 2021
