Twitter refused to say whether it would label the Taliban a violent organization and subject the group to disciplinary action in light of its takeover of Afghanistan, the Washington Examiner reported.
Representatives for the company repeatedly dodged questions about whether the Taliban was a terrorist organization according to Twitter’s own definition, even after they were sent multiple tweets from Taliban officials that could have violated the company’s terms of service.
Twitter’s rules say users “may not threaten or promote terrorism or violent extremism,” according to the “violent organizations policy” section of the rules.
The social media giant’s “top priority is keeping people safe, and we remain vigilant,” a Twitter spokesperson claimed in a statement.
“We are taking steps to safeguard the voices of those on our service who represent protected groups including, humanitarian workers, journalists, news media organisations, human rights activists, and others,” the spokesperson said.
“Our strong and dedicated teams are providing 24/7 global coverage to proactively enforce our rules at scale and swiftly actioning content that violates the Twitter Rules, specifically policies prohibiting glorification of violence, abusive behaviour, hateful conduct, wishes of harm, and gratuitous gore,” said the statement.
When asked whether the content posted by the Taliban violates this policy, the spokesperson declined to comment and said Twitter would “circle back should that change.”
In an additional statement, the spokesperson said Twitter “has no comment on the Taliban’s status as a violent organization per the site rules.”
Twitter has come under heavy criticism for allowing the Taliban to stay on Twitter while former President Donald Trump is banned.
Trump filed a class action lawsuit against the social media platforms earlier this year, arguing his suspension amounted to “illegal, unconstitutional censorship.”
