Twitter Says Taliban Spokesman Will be Allowed to Remain if He Doesn’t Get Too Violent

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Twitter is refusing to join its peers in the social-media world in prohibiting the Taliban from using its platform.

Asked on Tuesday whether Twitter would join Facebook, TikTok and other tech companies in banning the terror group, a spokesman for the company sidestepped the question, saying in a statement it would “continue to proactively enforce” its rules on the “glorification of violence, platform manipulation and spam.” The statement also took a moment to sell the company as a communication platform, saying it was “witnessing people in the country using Twitter to seek help and assistance.”

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid maintains an active presence on the website, where he enjoyed more than 200,000 followers as of Tuesday. He also is not the group’s only member using social media to promote the Taliban’s message. An announcement Mujahid posted earlier in the day about a Taliban press conference in Kabul drew messages from some of his supporters, including one who went by the name Muhammad Ibrahim.

Ibrahim’s history on the website showed that he used his account in July to provide advice to one self-proclaimed 26-year-old Bangaladeshi man seeking to join the terror group. “I want to join Taliban,” the man wrote in a July 14 message. “Pls help me.”

“Then go to Afghanistan.” Ibrahim replied, before advising him to seek his parents’ permission first.

Twitter drew fire from critics who noted that allowing the Taliban to remain on the platform stood in contrast with the company’s January move to impose a lifetime ban on former President Donald Trump, including Rep. Madison Cawthorne (R-NC). “Why on God’s green Earth does the Taliban spokesman have an active Twitter account but not the former President of the United States?” Cawthorne wrote on Sunday. “Who’s [sic] side is the AMERICA BASED Big-Tech companies on?”

French politician Jerome Riviere echoed the sentiment from across the Atlantic, opining, “Freedom and democracy are not doing well when Twitter continues to ban Trump’s account but relays the Taliban spokesperson’s without any second thoughts.”

The company added in its statement, “Twitter’s top priority is keeping people safe, and we remain vigilant.”