Taliban order ban on smartphones as officials shown destroying devices | Taliban
The Taliban has ordered a sweeping ban on smartphone use by government officials; some analysts say this could herald broader, population-level restrictions.
An order issued by the Taliban’s military courts and reviewed by the Guardian said the ban would come into force this week and that “high-ranking, low-ranking, general mujahideen or service personnel” are prohibited from using mobile phones.
In a video posted online, one Taliban official is seen reading the restraining order from his phone, while another person breaks their phone.
“If anyone uses this, the mobile phone will be destroyed and legal and sharia punishment will be imposed on the violator,” the order reads. The report also states that any exemption would require a written decree from Taliban religious leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. The Guardian was unable to reach a Taliban spokesman.
Reports and sources in Afghanistan say the bans were implemented on a “temporary” basis; While in some regions it targets only government officials, in some cities and provinces it extends to women, civilians, healthcare workers, school teachers and students.
“A lot of things happen at the local level because of a decision by someone local. But it could also be the beginning of a blanket ban and they’re just testing the waters,” said an analyst who works on Afghanistan.
The bans come after the Taliban escalated efforts to completely cut off Afghanistan from the global internet. In September, authorities ordered a two-day internet blackout vaguely justified by concerns about pornography; The order said the cut was to “prevent indecency.”
The Afghanistan analyst said the cut was made hastily and with a lack of foresight. It froze trade across the country and affected emergency services and aviation.
“The private sector was going crazy, the banking industry, even their own people (the security sector and the supreme leader’s office) were going crazy, and they realized, ‘Okay guys, we hadn’t really thought about this,’ so they reintroduced it,” the analyst said.
There are likely several factors that triggered the latest ban. The first is the street protests that broke out in the western city of Herat after the Taliban arrested women and girls for “inappropriate headscarves.” During the protests, Taliban forces were seen opening fire on crowds, killing at least two people.
The analyst said this incident may have added some momentum to the restrictions. “The videos coming out of the protests in Herat raised a lot of alarm. The Emirate was trying to control this. They initially denied it. They said no, no, this did not happen. Then the videos started to emerge.”
But the Taliban had been pushing for smartphone bans before the protests, citing fears of internal leaks and concerns among officials that they would reduce productivity.
Two government employees in Afghanistan’s western Herat province said the smartphone ban has been going on for months.
“About two months ago they told us not to bring your cell phones into the office,” one of them said. “Me and a few colleagues didn’t take it seriously. They confiscated them and smashed our phones after we made a fuss” – estimating a loss of around 8,000 Afghanis (£95).
The analyst said the Taliban is “concerned that people are always on their phones and not working, and smartphones should not belong in the workplace.”
There is also the problem of leaks: there are too many of them, the analyst said, because government officials use their smartphones to photograph documents and record occasional meetings, then allow them to be made public, one way or another, before the supreme leader signs it.
Employees wasting time and leaking information online can be part of the regular challenges of governance. The difference is the Taliban’s approach to the issue, the analyst said.
“It’s universal that smartphones and being online impact productivity to some degree. The difference here is that I haven’t seen any other country legislating against this.”
