Afghanistan Peace CampaignIn shutting down the internet and cellphone services across Afghanistan last month, the Taliban government turned the clock back decades, in a move reminiscent of their first time in power from 1996 to 2001. Connectivity came back after two days, but this week, the Afghan government blocked certain types of content on social media apps like Instagram and Facebook, signaling that it would only tolerate tightly controlled access to the internet.
Over the four years since they returned to power, the Taliban have gradually strengthened their grip on Afghan society, at times prohibiting content creators from posting on YouTube in one province, or forbidding television channels from broadcasting images of living beings in another. But the internet blackout and the suspension of cellphone services hit the entire country at the same time last month, leaving many Afghans worried that it could go on indefinitely, or happen again even after service was restored.
“We are always at home, so the internet was our only way to tell other people that we are alive,” said Mahsa, 19, who was in the middle of a math lesson with a U.S.-sponsored online education program when the blackout began. (The New York Times agreed to identify her by only her first name because she feared backlash by the government.)
Afghan officials have not communicated publicly about the shutdown, and spokesmen from multiple government agencies have not responded to requests for comment. But officials outside the country and analysts have said the internet shutdown was the result of an order by Afghanistan’s leader, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, who has sought to restrict internet access to prevent “immoral acts.”
“The internet shutdown is the most damaging decision the emir has made after closing schools for girls,” Asfandyar Mir, a senior fellow in the South Asia program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said about Mr. Akhundzada. “This time, it affected everyone and had immediate consequences, including for the economy.”
Why the internet came back after two days remains unclear. But officials outside the country, analysts and one aide to an Afghan government official said in interviews that some Afghan officials had most likely recognized that the shutdown was unsustainable and had restored internet access — with or without Mr. Akhundzada’s approval.
“Defiance of the Emir is anathema to Taliban ideology, which is based on allegiance to him,” said Graeme Smith, an author and analyst with two decades of experience in Afghanistan. “But this looks like a rare example of internal pushback against the leader.”
The internet shutdown was not addressed at a gathering convened by Mr. Akhundzada in Kandahar with hundreds of provincial and district governors shortly after online access was restored, according to two participants. Signs of dissension within the group were not present either, though Mr. Akhundzada urged the attendees to show unity and respect their superiors, according to the two participants. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to publicly discuss the meeting.
For countless Afghans, the internet shutdown paralyzed daily life. Although internet access is patchy in some parts of Afghanistan, smartphone use has proliferated in recent years with the expansion of 4G networks and the widespread availability of cheap devices.
In Herat, a buzzing city in northwestern Afghanistan, the blackout nearly ruined Nazir Hussaini’s two travel businesses, he said. He could not exchange currency nor register visa applications for clients seeking to cross into Iran, about 70 miles away.
Muhammad, a police officer in Kabul, was on his way to the police station for a late shift when the internet went off around 5 p.m. on Sept. 29. When a crime is reported in the area where he serves, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people, Muhammad said that he and his colleagues would first share the news in an internal WhatsApp group. But as they could not communicate online for two days, and local elders who would usually call them to report a crime could not reach them, Muhammad said that he and his colleagues did not conduct any investigations.
The internet shutdown further harmed the Afghan economy, already battered by multiple crises.
It cut off many Afghans from their relatives who send much-needed funds from abroad. It imperiled the work of U.N. agencies and humanitarian agencies that have provided relief to the victims of an earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people last month, and to many of the nearly three million Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan this year amid a wave of forced returns and deportations from neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
Human rights defenders and Afghanistan observers have warned that restricted access to online media platforms would severely undermine women’s and girls’ mental health.
Mahsa, the high school student, echoed those concerns.
“With a shutdown or restricted access to internet, you’re in a gray zone,” she said, “and if something happens to me, nobody will know.”
- Taimoor Shah, Yaqoob Akbary and Safiullah Padshah contributed reporting.
