Facebook head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher recently revealed a series of latest tools and safety features the corporate is rolling out for users in Afghanistan, citing the sudden and extreme changes in governance and, therefore, the risk many of us within the nation face. The corporate will enable users in Afghanistan to rapidly lock down their accounts with one click.
With the rapid Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, many of us within the nation are now scrambling to wipe content from our social media profiles that will endanger their lives, including posts, videos, and photos. Additionally, Afghans have reported instances of the Taliban stopping them from looking at their devices, including social media, for this type of content.
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.
— Nathaniel Gleicher (@ngleicher) August 19, 2021
Human rights organization workers criticized social media companies during a statement to NBC News recently, saying that these businesses are failing to assist users in Afghanistan quickly and adequately purge risky content, including providing support documents in regional languages.
Amid this, Facebook has revealed that it’s taking steps to assist its users within the country by rolling out new features for Afghanistan accounts. There is, for instance, a replacement one-click option that will lock down a Facebook profile, preventing people that aren’t friends from seeing their profile pictures and posts.
Facebook has also temporarily suspended the power to look and consider Friends lists in Afghanistan, reducing the power for the Taliban to use the platform to focus on people. In his Twitter thread, Gleicher revealed that Facebook has also established a “special operations center” to affect any new threats which will arise.
