WhatsApp, Telegram messaging services to be blocked in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s telecoms regulator wrote to internet service providers
this week ordering them to block the messaging services WhatsApp and
Telegram but it was not immediately clear whether they had complied.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the reports.
WhatsApp and similar services, including
Facebook Messenger and Viber, are widely used by Afghan politicians and
members of the government as well as by the Taliban, which has a
sophisticated social media operation of its own.
The movement’s main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, wrote to reporters this week giving his Viber number “in case WhatsApp is not working”.
Use of social media and mobile instant messaging
services has exploded in Afghanistan over recent years. Social media
users and civil rights groups reacted with outrage to initial reports of
the move and the letter sent by telecoms regulator ATRA was widely
shared on social media.
Some media reports,
citing unidentified sources, said the move had been ordered by the
National Directorate for Security to thwart the use of the encrypted
messaging services by the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
The
acting minister for telecommunications, Shahzad Aryobee, posted a
message on Facebook saying that the telecoms regulator had been ordered
to put a gradual block on the services to improve their functioning
after complaints had been received.
“The government is committed to freedom of speech and knows that it is a basic civil right for our people,” he wrote.
The
letter by telecoms regulator ATRA, dated Nov. 1 and signed by an
official of the regulator, directed internet companies to block Telegram
and Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp services “without delay” for a period of 20 days.
However,
the service worked normally this week and still appeared to be working
normally on Saturday on both state-owned operator Salaam and private
service providers.
On Friday, there were
reports of interruptions but it was not clear whether they were caused
by a deliberate shutdown or by the unrelated issues with WhatsApp
services that were experienced in several countries.
Mobile
phone services have been one of the big success stories in Afghanistan
since the Taliban were ousted from power by a U.S.-led campaign in 2001,
but there are also frequent complaints from users about quality and
coverage.
The movement’s main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, wrote to reporters this week giving his Viber number “in case WhatsApp is not working”.
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