Twitter has received criticism for allowing the Taliban to spread “racist and dangerous misinformation” about Jews.
The Jewish Chronicle reports that accounts openly supporting the Islamist group have racked up thousands of followers around the world while posting extreme Jew-hatred.
For example, one such Twitter user accuses ‘Zionists’ of being behind 9/11 and said that a video of American soldiers being passed a baby was in fact, “Americans stealing a fresh meal for their Jewish overlords”.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The appearance of antisemitic tropes in pro-Taliban propaganda will surprise no one but will disgust everyone – everyone except Twitter, which is apparently content to allow racist and dangerous misinformation to thrive on its platform.”
Twitter user Ahmadullah Muttaqi, who identifies himself as ‘Chief Of Multimedia Branch The Cultural Commission Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan’ has almost 14,000 followers. He has used the platform to share seemingly official messages from the group condemning last week’s suicide bombing at Kabul airport.
Other accounts that claim to be based in Afghanistan have shared video footage of Taliban leaders making speeches.
A Twitter spokesperson said: “The situation in Afghanistan is rapidly evolving. We’re also witnessing people in the country using Twitter to seek help and assistance.
“Twitter’s top priority is keeping people safe, and we remain vigilant. We are taking steps to safeguard the voices of those on our service who represent protected groups including, humanitarian workers, journalists, news media organisations, human rights activists, and others.”
Source: Jewish Chronicle