The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is calling on Twitter and other popular social media sites to remove accounts belonging to and affiliated with the Taliban in the wake of its takeover of Afghanistan.
“Terror groups like the Taliban shouldn’t be on Twitter,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
Noting the Taliban’s “long history of terrorist activity, violence and discrimination toward girls and women, assassinating journalists, and persecuting religious and ethnic minorities, the ADL stressed that there was “no rational reason” for the Taliban to be allowed on Twitter. They urged the company to revise its terms of service if necessary.
“There’s no rational reason for the Taliban, a terror group hell-bent on imposing their punitive version of governance on the people of Afghanistan and all those who speak out against their brutality, to be allowed to be on Twitter in an attempt to sanitize their image,” said Greenblatt.
“It’s incumbent upon Twitter and other major social media companies to not allow their platforms to be exploited by those who actively promote hate and engage in violence, violating the terms of service of these very products.”
Greenblatt added: “It’s the same standard that we have demanded that the companies apply to leaders like Iran’s Khamenei or organizations like Hezbollah who promote hatred. These companies can choose who they promote and publish. The Taliban should not be on the list.”
The ADL mentioned the Taliban’s targeted assassinations of activists and journalists during the last year while negotiating with the US and Western nations, as well as the group’s murder of 27 civilians who worked for the government and NGOs in the Malistan district in Ghazni province in July.
These actions are in clear violation of Twitter’s policy prohibiting “violence against an individual or a group of people” as well as its policy against the “glorification of violence.” Twitter also has rules against a user threatening or promoting terrorism or violent extremism.
The ADL said that the Taliban uses strategic tactics to circumvent the terms of service on social media platforms.
“The messaging from Taliban supporters typically challenges the West’s dominant image of the group as intolerant, vicious and bent on revenge, while staying within the evolving boundaries of taste and content that tech companies use to police user behavior,” reported the Washington Post.
“While the Taliban is technically not a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, their behavior is clearly that of a terrorist group,” said Greenblatt.
Greenblatt reiterated the ADL’s call for social media platforms to treat the Taliban as a terrorist organization so they can no longer “game the system.”
“The Taliban has its own media outlets. Youtube and Facebook already have pushed them off their platforms and we appreciate that leadership. Twitter should step up and do the same,” said Greenblatt.
In March, the ADL called on Twitter to deplatform Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for “spreading hatred, violence and dangerous disinformation” while calling for the State of Israel to be destroyed and denying the Holocaust.
The ADL noted multiple Khamenei accounts repeatedly violated Twitter’s rules regarding hate, violence and misinformation. None of these accounts had been suspended as per Twitter’s Hateful Conduct policy.