{"id":651938,"date":"2021-08-16T17:22:13","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T21:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=651938"},"modified":"2021-08-16T17:22:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T21:22:15","slug":"taliban-leaders-used-twitter-and-whatsapp-to-help-capture-kabul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taliban-leaders-used-twitter-and-whatsapp-to-help-capture-kabul\/","title":{"rendered":"Taliban Leaders Used Twitter and WhatsApp to Help Capture Kabul"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftaliban-leaders-used-twitter-and-whatsapp-to-help-capture-kabul%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=651938&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div readability=\"30.12987012987\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/\">National Security<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Jihadists disseminate messages to Afghan residents on social media platforms<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"736\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-736x491-1.jpeg\" class=\"w-full lazyload blur-up wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-scaled-e1628526799270.jpeg 736w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/08\/Taliban-afghanistan-1400x933.jpeg 1400w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tTOPSHOT &#8211; Afghan militia forces stand guard at an outpost as they patrol against the Taliban fighters in the Tange Farkhar area of Taloqan in northern Takhar province on July 6, 2021. (Photo by NASEER SADEQ \/ AFP) (Photo by NASEER SADEQ\/AFP via Getty Images)\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/santi-ruiz\/\" title=\"Posts by Santi Ruiz\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Santi Ruiz<\/a> \u2022 August 16, 2021 5:08 pm<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div readability=\"79.002417255485\">\n<p><span>Taliban leaders used Twitter and WhatsApp to spread propaganda and establish control over Kabul as they stormed the Afghan capital over the weekend.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Monday, Taliban spokesman<\/span> <span>Zabihullah Mujahid<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Zabehulah_M33\/status\/1427126736026836995\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>tweeted<\/span><\/a><span> that residents welcomed the Taliban and that &#8220;the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Zabehulah_M33\/status\/1427237251352776705?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>situation in Kabul is under control<\/span><\/a><span>.&#8221; The jihadist group used WhatsApp to disseminate a similar <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2021\/08\/15\/afghanistan-taliban-kabul-embassy-jalalabad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>message<\/span><\/a><span> to Kabul residents as it entered the city. In recent days, Taliban leaders have circulated WhatsApp numbers that Afghan regime officials or soldiers could call to negotiate their surrender.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Taliban has swept across Afghanistan in the weeks following Biden&#8217;s withdrawal of U.S. troops, capturing major cities with little resistance. The Pentagon on Sunday <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/pentagon-oks-more-troops-for-kabul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>deployed<\/span><\/a><span> an additional 1,000 troops to Afghanistan to aid evacuation efforts as Afghans and Americans swarmed Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Administration officials said in July that they expected a Taliban takeover to take months.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Taliban has used WhatsApp and Twitter for years to<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CombatJourno\/status\/1065099292564688896?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>share<\/span><\/a><span> official statements, but in the past week it has escalated its use of the platforms, using WhatsApp to announce new rules for Kabul residents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Monday, Mujahid tweeted a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Zabehulah_M33\/status\/1427237251352776705?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>warning<\/span><\/a><span> against looting and unauthorized intimidation of Afghan officials. The Taliban&#8217;s &#8220;complaint commission&#8221;<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AyazGul64\/status\/1426983891051614208?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>posted<\/span><\/a><span> WhatsApp numbers for city residents to call &#8220;if they face threats from anyone&#8221; and set up an emergency broadcast system via the app as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Twitter and Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, regularly banned ISIS members from their platforms. But the sites appear to let the Taliban broadcast its messages without incident.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A Twitter spokeswoman told the <\/span><i><span>Washington Free Beacon <\/span><\/i><span>that it was &#8220;proactively removing content that violates our policies.&#8221; The spokeswoman linked to a policy banning &#8220;hateful conduct&#8221; and another that bans &#8220;threatening or promoting terrorism.&#8221; The spokeswoman did not comment on whether&nbsp;Twitter considers the Taliban a terrorist organization. A Facebook spokesman told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> it would take action against accounts maintained by sanctioned groups in Afghanistan, but would not comment on specific cases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Several Taliban spokesmen have maintained Twitter accounts for years, regularly tweeting updates on negotiations and regional battles. The accounts often post photos and videos from frontlines, which are then copied and<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intelligencefusion.co.uk\/insights\/resources\/intelligence-reports\/the-taliban-on-twitter-how-the-group-uses-social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>shared<\/span><\/a><span> by pro-Taliban accounts. Only 15 percent of the Afghan population has access to the internet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Both Twitter and Facebook removed former president Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 riots and have not restored his account, citing &#8220;incitement to violence.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Security Jihadists disseminate messages to Afghan residents on social media platforms  TOPSHOT &#8211; Afghan militia forces stand guard at an outpost as they patrol against &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-651938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}