Facebook removes ability to view list of friends for accounts from Afghanistan

Facebook has temporarily removed the ability to view the list of friends for accounts from Afghanistan in an attempt to protect Afghan users from possible reprisal from the Taliban, head of the Facebook security policy Nathaniel Gleicher said.

He stressed that after a week of hard work, Facebook developed a one-click tool for people in Afghanistan that allows them to lock down their accounts.

“We also temporarily removed the ability to view and search the ‘Friends’ list for Facebook accounts in Afghanistan to help protect people from being targeted,” Gleicher said in a Tweet on Thursday (local time).

He also called on users not from Afghanistan to tighten their visibility settings in order to protect their friends from the nation.

The Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, ending a weeks-long offensive and resulting in the collapse of the government.

Earlier, in a statement, Facebook said that it has initiated action against posts and accounts affiliated to Taliban, as the social media giant identifies the outfit as a terrorist organisation under United States law.

“The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organization policies. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them,” social media giant’s spokesperson said.

There has been a spade of videos available online, which showcase the current turmoil in Afghanistan and the fear amongst the citizens residing in the counties. (ANI)