Afghan Witness Report: Online Harassment of Afghan Women Has Tripled Under Taliban Rule

According to a report published on Monday, November 20, by a legal group based in the UK, online harassment and hate speech against political activist women in Afghanistan have tripled since the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021. The 'Afghan Witness' project, which is an open-source initiative run by the non-profit 'Information Resilience', states that derogatory content published from June to December 2021 increased by 217% compared to the same period in 2022. The Afghan Witness team collected and analyzed information from 'over 78,000' posts in Dari and Pashto languages from the social media accounts of 100 Afghan political women on X (formerly Twitter). The group also interviewed six Afghan women to examine the nature of online harassment since the Taliban's takeover. The project's open-source research indicates that online derogatory content has specifically targeted activist women. Interviewees reported receiving messages containing obscene content as well as threats of sexual violence and death. Meanwhile, Taliban government spokespersons have refrained from commenting on this report. The report identifies four main themes in the derogatory content: accusations of immorality; the belief that political activist women violate cultural and religious norms; the allegation that activist women are affiliated with the West; and the accusation of making false claims to seek asylum abroad. According to the Afghan Witness project, this online harassment has been 'severely sexualized', with over 60% of the content published in 2022 containing terms like 'whore' or 'prostitute'. Francesca Gentile, the project's senior researcher, stated, 'Since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, social media has transformed from a platform for expressing social and political opinions into a podium for harassment and suppression, especially against women.' Gentile added, 'The Taliban's hostility towards women and their rights sends a message to online harassers that: insulting women who stand up for their rights is perfectly acceptable.' The report notes that most of those involved in these online harassments are men from 'a wide range of political affiliations, ethnic groups, and backgrounds.' As soon as the Taliban seized power in the summer of 2021, coinciding with the withdrawal of US and NATO forces after two decades in Afghanistan, they implemented strict measures against women, prohibiting girls from attending high school. A UN report states that recognizing the Taliban government depends on the freedom of women in Afghanistan. Pakistan: The expulsion of Afghan migrants is a reaction to the Taliban's lack of cooperation. The ban on women's entry to Afghanistan's national parks; Taliban: Recreation is not essential, mandatory hijab is. Exclusive: Ariana Saeed: The achievements of 20 years in Afghanistan have been lost under the Taliban regime.