Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn secure Afghan users' accounts amid Taliban takeover

As per details, on Thursday, the company issued new security measures to protect users in Afghanistan. Facebook has temporarily removed the ability for people to view or search the friend’s lists of accounts in Afghanistan.

Following recommendations from activists, journalists and civil society groups, Facebook said that users can now protect their posts from people they are unfamiliar with.

Facebook’s head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher on its official twitter handle said, “We are working closely with our counterparts in industry, civil society and government to do whatever we can to help protect people”.

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://t.co/d8YsTkkSnI

— Nathaniel Gleicher (@ngleicher) August 19, 2021

13/ And we've stood up a special operations center to respond to new threats as they emerge. We know that no single step is enough by itself in crises like this, but we’re watching closely as the situation develops and will take steps to help protect people in real time.

— Nathaniel Gleicher (@ngleicher) August 19, 2021

In addition, Instagram users in Afghanistan will receive notifications informing them of ways to protect their accounts.

Meanwhile, Twitter stated that it was in touch with civil society partners to provide support to groups in the country and was working with the Internet Archive to expedite direct requests to remove archived tweets.

It said if individuals were unable to access accounts containing information that could put them at risk, such as direct messages or followers, the company could temporarily suspend the accounts until users regain access and are able to delete their content.

Twitter also said it was proactively monitoring accounts affiliated with government organizations and might temporarily suspend accounts pending additional information to confirm their identity.

Following the Taliban takeover, a LinkedIn spokesman said that it also had temporarily hidden the connections of its users in Afghanistan so other users would not be able to see them.