The Taliban’s coordinated propaganda network on social media has gone offline following the regime’s nationwide suspension of internet and telecommunications services, Afghanistan International has learned.
Dozens of proxy accounts, long used to promote Taliban narratives and smear political opponents under the false identities of politicians, journalists, artists, and pseudonyms, have stopped posting in the past 24 hours. The sudden silence marks a rare disruption in a strategy the group has relied on heavily since its return to power.
Social media campaigns have been a central pillar of the Taliban’s information warfare. According to credible sources, senior Taliban officials including Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani had directly overseen the recruitment of dozens of paid propagandists tasked with operating coordinated networks across platforms such as X and Facebook. These networks routinely amplified Taliban messaging while systematically targeting critics, dissenters, and ethnic minorities.
The blackout follows the Taliban’s order last week to completely suspend fibre-optic internet and mobile networks across Afghanistan, a move that has drawn widespread international condemnation. While the shutdown has cut off Taliban-aligned propaganda channels, it has also deprived millions of Afghans of vital communication, information, and access to essential services.
Sources revealed that the Taliban’s defence and interior ministers, along with its intelligence chief, maintained multiple covert online groups, each staffed with dozens of operatives dedicated to shaping digital narratives in the regime’s favour. The suspension has effectively dismantled these propaganda operations—at least temporarily—underscoring the group’s dependence on social media tools to maintain influence.
Analysts warn, however, that the blackout not only silences propaganda but also deepens Afghanistan’s isolation from the outside world, further restricting the flow of independent information and limiting civic freedoms already under severe strain.
