Taliban declares war on smartphones

npr ^ | 07/10/2026 | Fatima Faizi

[BenLurkin]

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have ordered government employees, judges, police and members of the military to stop using smartphones under a directive that took effect June 16. The order threatens violators with confiscation, destruction of their devices and punishment (which are not specified).

The use of what are known as feature phones — with calling and texting options but no touch screen and no photo or recording capabilities — is permitted.

The ban does not yet apply to private phone ownership by ordinary Afghan civilians. But in some provinces, restrictions have already moved beyond government offices and into hospitals, schools and universities, raising fears that the policy could become an early test for broader limits on public smartphone use.

The restrictions began as a verbal order from Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and were later formalized in a military court directive circulated to court heads, police commanders and intelligence chiefs across the country's eight administrative zones. The directive says anyone caught using a smartphone will have the device smashed and face "legal and sharia punishment." Exemptions require a written decree from Akhundzada himself. A separate court order covers "all officials of the military and civilian institutions, including judges."

The Taliban have also created monitoring lists recording employees' names, positions, workplaces, mobile carriers and phone numbers. Security officials have instructed members to destroy their own smartphones and submit proof on a designated form.

At Kabul University, the leadership council ordered a complete smartphone ban for professors, staff and students effective June 21. The decision was announced at an academic council meeting where members were not permitted to ask questions. At Herat University, notices posted at the entrance warn that no one may enter with a smartphone, and the restriction extends into student dormitories, where Wi-Fi service has also been suspended. In Baghlan province, students carrying smartphones have been turned away at the university gate.

In Kandahar, the provincial Education Department said its own ban on students and teachers was rooted in a "sharia perspective" and warned that smartphones risked "the destruction of the future generation." The Taliban's higher education minister has called smartphones "one of the three main enemies of Muslims" and last October restricted their use on university premises to only the most senior administrators.

The timing of the order followed protests in Herat in early June, after Taliban forces arrested women and girls accused of "improper hijab" — not meeting the dress code of covering the face and body in the prescribed manner and not wearing makeup. Witnesses said Taliban forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing at least one person. Video of the shooting spread online before the Taliban could contain it.

The Taliban administration did not respond to a request for comment.

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TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS:

[ealgeone]

Sounds like something the dims would love.

[Red Badger]

“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.”
― Winston Churchill, The River War

[bobbo666]

Reality is truly cruel, to let me cheer on the Taliban for doing something good for humanity.

[No name given]

And Churchill was also right about socialism as well.

[No name given]

Let’s not give them any more ideas now.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Mossad knows where they can get a sweet deal on pagers.

[Ahithophel]

Need to add The View to that list.

[Thank You Rush]

“”raising fears that the policy could become an early test””

I didn’t think the people there lived with anything except fear. Universities? Didn’t know those were allowed...Can women attend?

[Brian Griffin]

I suspect there was too much surfing and not enough working.

Perhaps a new executive order will be forthcoming.

[bk1000]

Frankly, we’d all be better off without “smart” phones.

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[Red6]

Social media and the smart phone, have done irrefutable, widespread, severe damage.

Short attention spans, misinformation (those that usually talk about this are the most misinformed), the normalization of abhorrent and dysfunctional behavior, mass narcissism, people distracted and unaware of their environment, the need for constant entertainment.

The more time people spend on social media, the (((LESS))) informed they actually are.

Their head is merely filled with junk.

[central_va]

If we could get back to good clean porn everything would be alright.

[SharpRightTurn]

I’m surprised the Taliban would not mandate tin cans with string run through them as the latest in approved communication.

[SaveFerris]

🔝🔝🔝