Facebook implemented new safety measures for users in Afghanistan who are worried for their safety as the Taliban retook power, according to an announcement by Facebook’s head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher.
“We’ve launched a one-click tool for people in Afghanistan to quickly lock down their account. When their profile is locked, people who aren’t their friends can’t download or share their profile photo or see posts on their timeline,” Gleicher tweeted.
The platform also removed the ability to view or search the friends lists of accounts in Afghanistan.
The Taliban were banned on Facebook for years under the “dangerous organizations” policies, citing how the U.S. considers the group as a terrorist organization despite not including them on the State Department’s separate list.
Facebook said accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban are removed, and a team of multilingual local experts is working to identify emerging issues on the platform.
Other social media platforms also moved to protect their Afghan users.
Twitter said it was in touch with civil society partners to provide support to groups in the country, while a LinkedIn spokesman said the site had temporarily hidden the connections of its users in Afghanistan so other users would not be able to see them.
The Taliban have used a social media strategy for many years now, as they take advantage of platforms to get their messages out. According to Twitter’s data, there are half a dozen Taliban officials active on Twitter, with a combined 1 million followers.
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