- Clubhouse removed personal information from user accounts in Afghanistan that had not been active in recent weeks
- The measure is temporary and those who request it will be able to make the pertinent changes
- This action is in addition to those made by Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in order to protect users
Clubhouse joins Facebook and other platforms in implementing measures to safeguard its users in Afghanistan, following the takeover of the government by the Taliban.
A few days ago, as we learned from the news and news pages around the world, Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban regime, one of the most repressive groups in history. The response of the population, of course, has not been long in coming and many citizens are fleeing their country.
Throughout history, we have seen the influence that extremist groups have grown their network of adherents through technology. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and many more, have been a great search engine and even recruitment for this type of group, reaching thousands of members from different parts of the world.
This type of recruitment is not new, but has been operating for many years, and until now it is one of the great problems facing Facebook and, in general, the universe of social networks.
Now, in times of health emergency caused by Covid-19, social networks have begun to take action against the misinformation that abounds in them about the pandemic, the vaccine against the disease, and so on.
However, with what happened in Afghanistan, the question arises about what social networks are doing to stop extremist groups or various organizations that use them to recruit militants and, above all, to position their message.
Taking into account the seriousness of the situation that the Middle Eastern country is going through, a few days ago Facebook announced the application of some measures in order to protect Afghan citizens from the repression that characterizes the Taliban group that has taken control of the government. .
This measure is actually a tool that allows users to more easily delete their accounts, so that their information, such as publications or photographs, disappears from the universe of the social network.
Likewise, other platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn have also taken action with the same aim of Facebook: to protect Afghan citizens. Clubhouse is also joining this series of initiatives.
As part of the drive to safeguard the integrity of society in Afghanistan, Clubhouse also implemented an important decision: to remove personal information from the accounts of some users in that country.
In this way, the platform deleted photographs and biographies of the profiles registered in Afghanistan, which, recently, have not been active. Through a statement, the platform informed its users:
“We have noticed that you have not been active so, for your safety, we have removed your photo and your bio, and we have also made your account more difficult to find.”
A message form @Club House to #Afghanistan‘s users. pic.twitter.com/CpS4iz0L1J
– Zaki Daryabi (@ZDaryabi) August 19, 2021
These changes, however, will not be permanent, as the platform confirms that changes will be made to the accounts that send the corresponding request. Similarly, the number of followers of such users will not disappear.
On the other hand, the accounts that have undergone these changes will be able to decide what information they want to be displayed in their accounts, in order to protect themselves at a time as complex as the one experienced in Afghanistan.
Although it could be taken as an extreme measure that threatens freedom of expression, the truth is that, in a context as difficult as Afghanistan and taking into account the importance of social networks for these types of organizations, it seems a wise measure , although the central issue is in what the social networks themselves do to prevent these groups from dissolving so easily.
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