Facebook announces new security measures to protect Afghani users
Facebook announced on Thursday new security measures for users in Afghanistan, as the Taliban regained control over the country after its government collapsed this week.
“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,” explained Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy at Facebook in a tweet.
Additionally, the Big Tech company temporarily removed the ability to view and search the “Friends” list for Facebook accounts in Afghanistan to help protect people from being targeted.
“We’ve stood up a special operations center to respond to new threats as they emerge. We know that no single step is enough by itself in crises like this, but we’re watching closely as the situation develops and will take steps to help protect people in real time,” wrote Gleicher in a separate tweet.
The social networking company said that it’s working closely with its counterparts in industry, civil society, and government to provide whatever support we can to help protect people.
Facebook’s spokesperson unveiled further that is subsidiary, Instagram, will include pop-up alerts in Afghanistan with specific steps on how to protect citizen’s account.
Meanwhile, Facebook has confirmed it will continue to ban Taliban content from its platforms as it considers the group to be a terrorist organization.
The company says it has a dedicated team of Afghan experts to monitor and remove content linked to the group.
On the other hand, Taliban’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, criticized Facebook for censorship in a public press conference in the capital of Kabul on Tuesday, claiming the group’s freedom of speech is being stifled by the giant’s ban.
However, Twitter seems to be Taliban’s way out to the world, as the group used the platform to update their followers as they retook control of Afghanistan.
Although Twitter terms does not allow groups that promote terrorism or violence against civilians.
“The situation in Afghanistan is rapidly evolving,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNBC. “We’re also witnessing people in the country using Twitter to seek help and assistance. Twitter’s top priority is keeping people safe, and we remain vigilant.”
“We will continue to proactively enforce our rules and review content that may violate Twitter rules, specifically policies against glorification of violence, platform manipulation and spam,” the spokesperson added.
In the meantime, Twitter remains under inspection for its handling of Taliban-related content.