Tech platforms should ban or restrict content from the Taliban

Tech platforms should ban or restrict content from the Taliban, a United Nations-backed group advised Monday.

The group, Tech Against Terrorism, added the Taliban, which has regained control of Afghanistan amid the pullout of U.S. forces, to its Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP), which detects verified terrorist content online and alerts platforms of it.

“The Taliban was one of the groups that we have considered adding to the TCAP for a long time, however in light of recent events in Afghanistan and to provide clarity for the tech companies we work with on this (admittedly challenging) content moderation issue, we have decided to accelerate inclusion of official Taliban content,” the group said in a statement.

“Whilst we appreciate that this is a challenging moderation issue, the fact that the Taliban now effectively constitutes the Afghan government should not prevent platforms from implementing their rules in this area and from removing material produced by a designated terrorist organisation,” the group said.