Facebook, Twitter, And LinkedIn Simultaneously Protect Afghan Accounts, This Is The Reason

Jakarta - Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn said this week that they had moved to secure accounts of Afghans to protect them from being targeted amid the Taliban's rapid takeover of the country.

Head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher tweeted on Thursday, August 19: “Facebook is temporarily removing the ability for people to view or search friends lists from accounts in Afghanistan,

Gleicher also said the company has launched a "one-click tool" for users in Afghanistan to lock their accounts so that people who are not their Facebook friends will not be able to see their timeline posts or share their profile photos.

Human rights groups have raised concerns that the Taliban could use online platforms to trace Afghanistan's digital history or social connections.

Amnesty International said this week that thousands of Afghans, including academics, journalists, and human rights defenders, were at serious risk of Taliban retaliation.

The former captain of the Afghan women's soccer team also urged the players to delete social media and erase their public identities.

Twitter Inc said it was liaising with civil society partners to provide support to groups in the country and was working with the Internet Archive to expedite direct requests to remove archived tweets.

It said if individuals were unable to access an account that contained information that could harm them, such as direct messages or followers, the company could temporarily suspend the account until users regain access and can delete their content.

Twitter also said it is proactively monitoring accounts affiliated with government organizations and may temporarily suspend accounts pending additional information to confirm their identities.

A LinkedIn spokeswoman said Microsoft's professional networking site had temporarily hidden its users' connections in Afghanistan so other users could not see them.