The approach of Twitter boss Elon Musk, consisting in refusing all censorship and defending freedom of expression on the social network, received rather unexpected support from the Taliban, in power in Afghanistan. Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official but without a government portfolio, said on Monday that Twitter had “two important advantages” over other platforms, days after Meta launched its new social network, called Threads and intended to compete with Twitter. .
“The first advantage is freedom of expression. The second is the public nature and credibility of Twitter,” he tweeted. “Twitter does not have Meta’s intolerant policy. Other platforms cannot replace it,” he added. This message has earned him strong criticism, with people observing that the Taliban government does not allow the same free speech rights to its citizens.
The activity of Afghans on social networks is closely monitored by the authorities and many people have been arrested for criticizing the government. Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have greatly increased their presence on social networks. But many of their accounts, or those of their supporters, were blocked, sometimes as quickly as they were created.
Not ready to pay to use Twitter
The Taliban government now uses Twitter for its main announcements and most ministries have official accounts, although none appear to have paid for the blue tick since Twitter changed its account certification system earlier this year. Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp, is actively shutting down accounts associated with the Taliban.
Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter last year, reinstated tens of thousands of accounts that had been blocked, such as that of former US President Donald Trump. Some belonged to conspirators or opponents of vaccination, or had been suspended for misinformation, harassment and demonstrations of hatred.