Over the past 24 hours, the Taliban has shut down the internet in Afghanistan, making it impossible for its residents to communicate with the rest of the world. This is the second and far more extreme shutdown of the internet in Afghanistan, following some provinces losing connectivity in September. You may be curious about how often countries do something like this and how the people of Afghanistan will be affected by the blackout. I’ll break it down for you.
So, what exactly is happening with Afghanistan’s internet?
On September 15, in the north province of Balkh, fibre optic internet was completely banned at the order of Taliban leaders. This was a combative measure “taken to prevent vice”, Balkh provincial spokesperson Attaullah Zaid wrote on social media. This blackout also came with restrictions reported in the northern provinces, as well as some in the south.
Earlier this week, on Monday, multiple networks had been disconnected, and telephone services had been limited in the country. The Taliban said they were aware of the effects of the outage.
“The incident is likely to severely limit the public’s ability to contact the outside world,” they said.
This is the first time the whole of Afghanistan has experienced an internet blackout since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
How will this affect Afghanistan’s population?
There could be a lot of possible impacts. First, they have recently experienced a series of earthquakes across the country; as a result, they are in need of aid, something which becomes more difficult without a way to communicate with the rest of the world.
The shutdown could have a big effect on people looking to send money to relatives in Afghanistan. Since 2020, people in Afghanistan have been living on less than two dollars a day, according to an Al Jazeera report in 2021, meaning families sending money from overseas could make a big difference, something the blackout makes them unable to do.
A lot of news media have focused on the effects the outage will have on Afghan women. Under the regime of the current Afghan government, women are unable to attend school past year six or pursue job opportunities, so one of the only ways they can do so is through online courses. The blackout will stop them from doing something that Macarena Sáez of Human Rights Watch told ABC is suppressing women and girls.
“The Taliban’s objective is nothing less than the complete silencing of women and girls, no matter the cost,” she said.
Furthermore, people are unable to call their relatives, both within the country and overseas, and the blackout has grounded flights at Kabul airport.
Has a country cut internet connections before?
A country limiting or restricting internet access is not something new. According to a report by Access Now, there has been an increase of 35 per cent in the number of countries experiencing internet shutdowns. Over the past few years, we have seen governments exercise control over internet services in response to major incidents.
In June of this year, Iran enforced a near-complete internet blackout as a response to cybersecurity issues. In 2024, Bangladesh also enforced widespread internet blackouts in response to student-led protests, and in Senegal in 2023, internet access was limited to combat protests over the sentencing of a political leader. In fact, in 2024 alone, 296 shutdowns occurred to internet services in 54 countries, including India, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Russia.
When will the internet be turned back on?
There has been no date given by the Taliban at this point for when the internet will be turned back on.
Photo: by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika, US Army National Guard, is available here and used under a Creative Commons licence. The image has been cropped.
