Afghanistan lost almost all internet access on Monday, according to three groups that track internet outages, in the latest blow to its battered economy and to millions of Afghans whose freedoms have been drastically restricted in four years of Taliban rule.
The ruling Taliban did not immediately comment on the blackout. But it came less than two weeks after they shut down the internet in more than half a dozen of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, saying that they wanted to limit “the misuse of internet” and prevent “immoral acts.” At that time, only fiber internet service was suspended, with mobile internet left accessible.
But both mobile and wired internet were suspended on Monday, and telephone services were disrupted across the country. Internet traffic stopped almost completely at 5 p.m. local time, according to data collected by Netblocks and Kentik, two firms that analyze internet traffic. Proton VPN also confirmed the shutdown.
Smartphone use has proliferated in Afghanistan with the expansion of 4G networks in recent years. As of 2023, 18 percent of the population was using the internet, and there were 56 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people, according to the World Bank.
During the Taliban’s long insurgency, the militants regularly targeted cell towers, and they forced mobile internet providers like MTN to leave Afghanistan. In the last months of the war, they imposed localized internet shutdowns to mute any resistance, and after capturing Kabul, the capital, in August 2021, they briefly imposed a blackout there to prevent protests.
The Taliban have also widely restricted access to news websites opposing their authoritarian rule and other sites that they deemed immoral.
Yet the internet has remained central to the daily lives of millions, including business owners, girls taking online courses to bypass a ban on education beyond sixth grade, and even government employees, who widely use WhatsApp.
The most prominent Taliban officials, including the group’s spokesmen, have tens if not hundreds of thousands of followers on social media platforms. On Monday, their WhatsApp accounts were silent, and requests for comment went undelivered.
Elian Peltier is an international correspondent for The Times, covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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