A nationwide telecoms shutdown has been imposed in Afghanistan, as part of a Taliban crackdown on “immoral activities”.
Netblocks, a global internet watchdog, said on Monday that multiple networks in Afghanistan had been disconnected. Telephone services had also been limited, resulting in what Netblocks described as a “total internet blackout” in the nation of 43 million people.
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Connectivity was cut in phases on Monday, with the final stage affecting telephone services. In the past, the Taliban have voiced concern about online pornography. And earlier this month, authorities cut fibre-optic links to some provinces, with officials citing morality concerns.
“The incident is likely to severely limit the public’s ability to contact the outside world,” the group added.
This is the first time that the whole of Afghanistan has faced an internet blackout under the hardline Islamist government. It risks cutting off the country, which is in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, just weeks after a devastating, magnitude-6 earthquake in the east of the country.
Which telecoms services are being restricted?
Earlier this month, the Taliban began to close down internet services. On September 16, the Balkh provincial spokesperson stated that fibre-optic internet had been completely banned in the northern province.
“This measure was taken to prevent vice,” he wrote on social media. At about the same time, restrictions were also reported in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, and Nangarhar in the south.
Cloudflare Radar – an international internet traffic monitor – said Kabul had suffered the sharpest municipal drop in internet connectivity, followed by the western city of Herat, and Kandahar in the south.
On Monday, online TV channel TOLOnews reported that the authorities had set a one-week deadline for the shutdown of 3G and 4G internet services for all mobile phones, leaving only the 2G mobile network active.
Telephone services have also been compromised, as they are routed over the internet and share the same fibre-optic cables.
What is likely to be worst-affected?
Internet and communications
Tolo warned viewers of disruption to its news services and added that the shutdown would affect its own internal operations.
Elsewhere, both The Associated Press (AP) and AFP news agencies said they were unable to contact their bureaus in the capital city, Kabul.
On Tuesday, Al Jazeera attempted to contact people in Kunar, Jalalabad and Kabul by WhatsApp and by phone from outside Afghanistan, but no messages or calls got through.
Afghan citizens living abroad, such as rights activist and journalist Nilofar Ayoubi, report that they have been unable to communicate with family members.
I haven’t been able to reach my mother in Afghanistan for the past nine hours due to the internet blackout. Tonight, I feel just as hopeless and powerless as I did on the night of August 15 , 2021 .. https://t.co/yX4ycP4sMK
Flights
Some flights from Kabul airport have been disrupted. According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, nine flights scheduled to depart from or arrive at Kabul International Airport on Tuesday were cancelled. Other flights went ahead as planned.
Even before the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the Afghan economy was fragile. Some 47 percent of the country’s population were living below the poverty line. Unemployment stood at 11.7 percent in 2020, and 34.3 percent of people with jobs were living on less than $1.90 per day, Sheela Samimy, an economist and former director in the Afghan Ministry of Finance, told Al Jazeera at the time.
A telecoms shutdown could well exacerbate Afghanistan’s economic struggles.
Internet platforms – such as Aseel, an online platform enabling Afghan artisans – mostly women – to sell handmade jewellery, carpets and pottery to customers around the world while setting their own prices – are expected to be badly affected by the internet blackout as vendors and customers become unable to connect to these sites.
Aseel also enabled people from overseas to donate humanitarian aid via its website.
Afghans who earn a living via social media platforms such as YouTube will also be affected.
Financial and healthcare services
Diplomatic officials told the BBC that the internet shutdown could affect banking systems across the country, in addition to business operations and hospital services.
What does the Taliban say about all this?
AFP reported that a government official told it on Monday that the fibre-optic network it relies on for operations would be shut down. “Eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” would be shut down, he said, adding that the blackout would last “until further notice”.
Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban has imposed numerous restrictions on society in line with its strict interpretation of Islamic law. But strictures ordered by the leadership, based in Kandahar, have grown increasingly hardline recently.
Authorities banned Afghan women working for the United Nations from entering its offices in September. This follows prohibitions on women in numerous jobs, while girls were prohibited from attending high school in 2021. Women are now also banned from higher education.
Many women and girls have since relied on online classes provided by educators abroad or by charitable organisations. This latest clampdown on the internet means these opportunities are now also under threat.
The Taliban says it respects women’s rights in line with its interpretation of Islamic law.
But women’s rights activist Sanam Kabiri, an Afghan living in Pakistan, said: “The Taliban are using every tool at their disposal to suppress the people.
“What else do these ignorant men of another century want from our oppressed people?”
Will this hamper ongoing earthquake rescue efforts in Afghanistan?
On August 31, a devastating magnitude 6.0 earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people and injured some 3,600, according to the Taliban authorities. As rescue efforts persist, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
Women have remained largely absent from earthquake clear-up operations, in large part because the Taliban has barred them from working for nongovernmental organisations operating in the country – which remains highly dependent on humanitarian support.
In many parts of Afghanistan, women may not travel without being accompanied by a male “guardian”, making it harder for women to either receive or provide support in the aftermath of the earthquake.
