Assam: 14 arrested from across state for social media posts supporting Taliban

On Saturday, August 21, fourteen people were arrested from across Assam for alleged social media posts supporting the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, police said. A senior police officer informed that since Friday night several have been booked under different sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, IT Act, and CrPC. 

The officer said, "We were on alert and monitoring social media for inflammatory posts".

The police further informed that two people each from Kamrup Metropolitan, Barpeta, Dhubri, and Karimganj districts, were arrested. And one person each was arrested from Darrang, Cachar, Hailakandi, South Salmara, Goalpara, and Hojai districts. 

Deputy Inspector General Violet Baruah said the Assam Police are taking stern legal action against pro-Taliban comments on social media that are harmful to national security.

She tweeted, "We're registering criminal cases against such persons. Please inform the police if any such thing comes to your notice," she tweeted.

Facebook bans Taliban-related content

Earlier this week, Facebook confirmed that it will continue to ban Taliban content from its platforms as it considers the group to be a terrorist organisation. The company has a dedicated team of Afghan experts to monitor and remove content linked to the group.

A Facebook spokesperson told BBC, "The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organisation policies. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them".

Facebook has informed, "We also have a dedicated team of Afghanistan experts, who are native Dari and Pashto speakers and have knowledge of local context, helping to identify and alert us to emerging issues on the platform."

UNDP raises alarm over Taliban's anti-humanitarian approach

On Sunday, 15 August, President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan with the Taliban's swift takeover. Following this, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has raised an alarm over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan as the unfolding humanitarian and development emergency, accelerated by the paralysis of state institutions threatens hard-won development progress over the past twenty years. Tens of thousands of people remain desperate to flee the country fearing the Taliban's retribution. 

(With PTI input)

(Image credit: AP/PIXABAY)