Facebook rolls out new security features for people in Afghanistan, including a one-click tool to quickly lock accounts and limit account discoverability
Facebook said Thursday it is rolling out new user controls for people in Afghanistan who are rushing to delete their digital footprints …
NBC NewsApril Glaser
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook’s Afghanistan controls extend a longer run of account-protection tools, from profile-photo safeguards introduced in India to planned expansion of Facebook Protect. The difference here is urgency: users are seeking to reduce their visible digital footprints rather than simply manage routine privacy settings.
The rollout follows Facebook’s ban on Taliban accounts, while Twitter described a rule-by-rule enforcement approach and YouTube said it would remove Taliban-linked accounts. That leaves user protection and content enforcement operating together, but differently, across major platforms.
First-order effects
People in Afghanistan can more quickly restrict account visibility and discoverability, reducing the amount of profile information readily exposed through Facebook.
Facebook takes on the operational task of applying crisis-specific protections while continuing to enforce its Taliban ban.
Second-order effects
Twitter and YouTube face a sharper contrast with Facebook’s user-facing safety response: their stated Taliban-account policies address platform content, while Facebook is also giving at-risk users account controls.
Facebook’s earlier bulk removal of third-party apps shows that its account settings can be used to reduce multiple forms of exposure; the Afghanistan rollout makes rapid, simplified controls the relevant model in an acute-security setting.
Third-order effects
If platforms repeat this approach in future crises, safety policy will increasingly include temporary, location-specific privacy defaults alongside content moderation rather than treating moderation as the sole risk-control layer.
The differing Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube responses point toward platform safety being judged both by whom services remove and by how effectively users can reduce their own exposure.
The trend: Social platforms are moving toward crisis-responsive safety systems that combine enforcement against harmful actors with faster user-controlled privacy protections.
4/ We've launched a one-click tool for people in Afghanistan to quickly lock down their account. When their profile is locked, people who aren't their friends can't download or share their profile photo or see posts on their timeline. https://twitter.com/...
1/ Like so many others, many of us at Facebook have been watching the tragic events unfolding in Afghanistan. My thoughts go out to everyone on the ground and everyone trying to help as these events unfold.
2/ Over the past week, our teams have been working around the clock to do everything we can to help keep people safe. While we have to be careful to avoid tipping off bad actors, here are a few security measures we've rolled out for people in country to protect their accounts.
Boosting this important thread on the steps we're taking to protect people in #Afghanistan, including launching a one-click tool to lock down your @facebook profile with strong privacy settings and temporarily removing the ability to view Friends lists in the country. https://twi…
3/ Many of these were informed by feedback from activists, journalists and civil society groups. I'm also including links to some useful online security guides for journalists and activists from civil society experts.
7/ If you're outside Afghanistan but might have friends in the country, you can help protect them by tightening your own visibility settings by following the instructions here: https://www.facebook.com/...
Facebook just shared new tools to help users in Afghanistan rushing to purge their digital lives for fears that phones or computers could be seized by the Taliban. This comes after human rights workers say Facebook has been too slow to respond https://www.nbcnews.com/...
6/ We also temporarily removed the ability to view and search the “Friends” list for Facebook accounts in Afghanistan to help protect people from being targeted.
🧵from @Facebook: “Over the past wk, our teams have been working around the clock to do everything we can to help keep people safe [in Afghanstan]. While we have to be careful to avoid tipping off bad actors here are a few security measures we've rolled out for people in country” …
Yeah, true, there have been some small issues with facebook and genocide in the past. https://www.nbcnews.com/... https://www.msn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
This is amazing. Happy to see a megacorp take their responsibility to their customers seriously and personally in a time of severe need. https://twitter.com/...
I implore the people running @Facebook and @newscorp @Foxnews to not amplify propaganda that will put our forces at risk in Afghanistan. There will be time for all that when everyone is out and safe. Please stop. @PressSec
8/ For journalists & activists in Afghanistan (or any high-risk environment), it's important to remember that @FB is only one piece of the online environment so I wanted to boost a few CSO guides for protecting accounts online more broadly:
Dutton's comments about not trusting Afghan interpreters enough to rescue them just kind of sums up the whole Afghanistan fiasco (and Dutton's wretched views on refugees)
Facebook is announcing features to try to help Afghans protect themselves 🧵 (Having witnessed periods of crackdown in other countries, I'd encourage Afghans to delete FB and related products altogether, but I applaud this effort, nonetheless.) https://twitter.com/...
🚨 HT @runasand Great work by @Facebook @instagram to help users in Afghanistan to tighten account access and visibility. Also links to @GlobalCyberAlln journalism protection resources. Pls do share widely https://twitter.com/...
The modern, tech-savvy Taliban aren't the same as they were 20 years ago. Now they're using the internet to control the narrative - and assert their dominance. (via @VICEWorldNews) https://www.vice.com/...
New: Source tells me now the Taliban are reverting to strict Sharia — threatening on WhatsApp groups to “chop into pieces” and “throw away” female students who turn up to classes wearing lipstick and nail polish.
Not surprised. Given the number of their supporters on here. 🧐 How Social Media Helped ‘Taliban 2.0’ Take Control of Afghanistan https://www.vice.com/...
The full voice message, translated: “Cover your faces, cover your eyes, come back to classes without fear, but if I see your nails polished or if I see your toes or if you wear lipstick, I'll chop you in pieces and throw you away.”
“The group knows how to navigate different audiences while leveraging the features and censorship limits of different online platforms.” @Rita_Katz to @gav_butler @VICENews https://www.vice.com/...
Taliban somehow infiltrating WhatsApp group chats of students to send voice recorded threats, source says. Taliban also suggesting that female Afghan students will only be allowed to study if they cover their faces and eyes.
“The group's internet presence is not limited to a handful of social media managers ... the Taliban's online infrastructure is so large and complex that “at times, one doesn't even know they're looking at it.” Good piece by @gav_butler https://www.vice.com/...
This is deeply disturbing and illustrates exactly why Facebook must be mobilizing all resources to remove Taliban-related accounts and content such as this on WhatsApp/Facebook. https://twitter.com/...