The Taliban Have Begun Shutting Down The Internet In Afghanistan

To "prevent immorality."

Afghan authorities have banned fiber-optic internet in Balkh province "to prevent immorality." The decision was made by Haibatullah Akhundzada, leader of the ruling Taliban movement, Associated Press reported local administration spokesman Haji Attaullah Zaid. As a result, government offices, private sector and residential houses in Balkh were left without Wi-Fi. At the moment, only mobile network is working in the province, but according to locals, such internet is slow and expensive.

Zaid added that the authorities are developing "an alternative to meet the needs" of the population that will not provoke citizens to "immoral behavior." Earlier, the Taliban said residents were using the internet to view pornography and flirt with women. According to Reuters, the cable outage affected the entire north of Afghanistan: in addition to Balkh, these are the provinces of Kunduz, Badakhshan, Baghlan and Takhar. Amu TV says a total of 13 provinces, including Kandahar, Uruzgan, Herat, Helmand and Nimroz, have been hit by the restrictions.

The channel's sources say the cable ban is part of a broader Taliban campaign to tighten censorship and surveillance of citizens. For example, authorities have ordered telecom operators to give intelligence agencies access to users' calls and data.

Fiber optic internet, introduced in Afghanistan in 2007, has provided faster, cheaper and more secure connections in the country, playing a central role in banking and online services. Some 13 million Afghans now use it, of whom nearly 4 million have social media accounts. Among other things, the Internet has become the only way for girls and women to get an education after the Taliban banned them from schools and universities.

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