Taliban Terrorist Group Uses Clubhouse To Threat Political Opponents

JAKARTA - As the Taliban sweeps through Afghanistan, some members of this terrorist group seem to be taking the time to log into Clubhouse, a trendy audio-based social media app.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that Taliban spokesmen ran an in-app chat room where they discussed their religion and plans for the future of Afghanistan, which quickly fell into the control of the extremist group amid the withdrawal of American troops,

"The Taliban called me rude and cut my microphone after I told them the truth", Haanya Saheba Malik, an Afghan Clubhouse user who joined the Taliban room, told AFP. "They openly declare those among us who call for infidel human rights and deserve the death penalty".

The Clubhouse terms of service prohibit “immoral, racist or discriminatory” behavior based on “race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious illness”.

But the app, backed by top investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global Management, as well as celebrity entrepreneur Audrey Gelman, appears to have allowed the group to operate on the platform for at least two weeks.

AFP first covered the use of the Clubhouse by the Taliban on July 16. Saturday, July 30, a Taliban spokesman once again appeared on the app, calling for better relations between Afghanistan and Iran while praising the country's theocratic system of government.

A Clubhouse spokesman denied that the group tolerated terror groups.

"Clubhouse bans the terror group and its members", the spokesperson told The Post. “We are working with Tech Against Terrorism and other subject matter experts and industry leaders to ensure that these users are permanently removed from the platform”.

Content at Clubhouse, which rose to prominence earlier this year for holding exclusive sessions with tech icons like Tesla's Elon Musk and Robinhood's Vlad Tenev, is harder to track than many other social media platforms because the chat is audio-only, and the app does not allow the user to rewind or listen to the previous session.

Clubhouse policy also explicitly prohibits users from recording or quoting statements made through the app. But several Afghan Clubhouse users told AFP that the Taliban recorded Clubhouse sessions to flag criticism for future retaliation.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban who also operates a Twitter account with 232.000 followers, denied threatening his opponent at the Clubhouse in a statement to AFP.

Social media has become increasingly important to the Taliban as the group seeks to seize the US-backed Afghan government. According to an AFP report, nearly half of the country's 37 million people have internet access, and 13 million use social media. This makes apps like Clubhouse an important way to reach Afghans.