Taliban bans internet in Afghanistan to remove vice

Guwahati: To prevent vice, the Taliban has imposed an indefinite ban on internet services across Afghanistan.

In a sweeping move, the Taliban government in Afghanistan took the call for nationwide shutdown of telecommunications, just days after they began disconnecting fibre-optic internet connections in several provinces to prevent “vice,” as per the The Guardian.

Netblocks, a watchdog firm on cybersecurity and internet governance, announced, “a nationwide telecoms blackout is now in effect,” appearing to be “consistent with the intentional disconnection of service.”

“We’re now observing national connectivity at 14% of ordinary levels,” the watchdog added.

A BBC report states, international news agencies have lost contact with offices in the Capital city of Kabul. Mobile internet and satellite TV have too been “severely disrupted” across Afghanistan.

A Taliban official told BBC that the telecom shutdown would last until further notice.

The Taliban’s action on internet access began early this month, when it imposed a ban on fibre-optic internet in northern Afghanistan’s Balkh province, cutting off homes, businesses, and government offices from high-speed WiFi access. Since then, internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent across the country, reports The Indian Express.