Afghanistan Orders WhatsApp Blocked -- Update
November 03 2017 - 6:45PM
Dow Jones News
By Habib Khan Totakhil and Ehsanullah Amiri
KABUL -- Afghan authorities have ordered internet service
providers to block Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp, triggering
condemnation from civil-liberties groups and protests from users on
social media.
In a letter sent to service providers on Thursday, Afghanistan's
Telecommunication Regulatory Authority didn't say why it was
ordering the providers to shut WhatsApp, as well as Telegram,
another encrypted messaging app, for 20 days "without delay."
The response to the order was immediate and sharply critical,
particularly among Afghans for whom freedom of press and expression
is one of the country's great accomplishments since a U.S.-led
invasion forced the Taliban from power in 2001.
While state-owned Salaam Telecom blocked the apps, three private
service providers -- MTN, Etisalat and Roshan -- refused, with an
official at one saying compliance with the order would lead to more
censorship.
WhatsApp is reporting normal messaging rates but said users may
have faced access issues due to a global outage around 1 a.m.
Pacific time Friday. "Earlier today, WhatsApp users globally had
trouble accessing the app for about an hour. This issue has been
fixed and we apologize for the inconvenience," a WhatsApp
spokeswoman said.
Najib Sharifi, president of the Afghan Journalists Safety
Committee, a press freedom group, said the ban wasn't in keeping
with "the spirit of Afghanistan's constitution and stands against
the laws of the country pertaining to freedom of expression and
communication."
Others questioned the government's motives, especially
suggestions that the ban was aimed at curbing use of the apps by
the Taliban or one of the many other insurgent groups in the
country.
"If it's really about security concerns, the government must
understand how ridiculous this is," said Asif Ashna, a
civil-liberties activist. "Terrorist groups know how to use apps
and the internet, and can get around such bans to spread their
propaganda."
As criticism of the ban went viral on social media late
Thursday, a Taliban spokesman sent a message to a journalist, dryly
noting: "In case WhatsApp doesn't work, this is my Viber number."
Viber is another popular messaging app.
Where the order originated was unclear. One official for the
National Directorate of Security, the country's intelligence
agency, said the directive came from his agency because militant
groups were using the apps. Another official in the agency,
however, denied that.
In response to the furor, the government late Friday offered
another explanation for the ban.
The Ministry of Communications, Information and Technology
issued a statement saying it had received complaints about WhatsApp
and Telegram and was shutting them temporarily to "improve the
quality of the applications."
The statement didn't elaborate on the nature of the complaints,
where they originated or how the government could improve the apps'
quality, but it added, "The government is fully committed to
freedom of speech and recognizes it as a civil right."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 03, 2017 18:30 ET (22:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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