Following the Taliban leadership’s decision to shut down internet nationwide, Maulvi Muslim, the IT chief of the group’s Interior Ministry, has ordered local Taliban to arrest Starlink users.
In an audio message posted on social media, he instructs his fighters to arrest those using Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service, stating “These people are very important to Americans, they should be targeted and arrested.”
Taliban officials have previously ordered the shutdown of Wi-Fi networks, but the focus is now on arresting users who access the internet via Starlink. The Taliban have imposed a nationwide ban on fiber-optic internet in Afghanistan to curb “immorality,”
cutting Wi-Fi access for homes, offices, and institutions believe that this decision will not only pose a serious threat to freedom of expression, but will also impose strict restrictions on the country’s remaining limited internet resources.
Although the Taliban initially called the move “preventing vice” their exact purpose remains unclear as Afghanistan faces a near-total nationwide telecoms disruption.
