Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Parler CEO: Afghanistan fell to the Taliban days ago. Why is Twitter still giving them space?

Parler CEO: Afghanistan fell to the Taliban days ago. Why is Twitter still giving them space?

Twitter says it continues to monitor active Taliban accounts. But so far it has refused to block or ban those users

Which of these is not like the others – stating that COVID-19 may have originated in Wuhan, China, voicing an opinion about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election or being a member of the Taliban?

If you guessed "being a member of the Taliban," you would be correct – but the reason may surprise you. While voicing concerns about the origin of COVID-19 or advocating for greater integrity in U.S. elections will likely get you banned, or at least censored, on Twitter, being a member of the Taliban poses very little risk to one’s ability to use Twitter.

In the 11 days since the Taliban brutally overtook Afghanistan, Twitter has resisted calls to ban the terrorist-sponsoring group from the social media site.

Contrast this behavior today with Twitter’s swift response after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Just two days after that shameful event, Twitter permanently banned former President Donald Trump from its platform.
Twitter’s statement was unequivocal: "After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

Twitter claims to have been concerned that tweets on the former president of the United States would incite violence, but today is taking a much more hands-off approach with an organization that exists for the very purpose of inflicting and inciting violence. The transparent inconsistency is stunning.

Twitter is more willing to shut down the accounts of Americans whose views do not perfectly align with the company’s than to shut down the accounts of known international terrorists.


Twitter says it continues to monitor active Taliban accounts, but has, thus far, refused to block or ban those users.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Twitter employs a much more aggressive approach to blocking accounts. The social media platform has banned and censored numerous individuals, mostly conservatives in America, for questioning the prevailing narrative on COVID-19.

How many Americans have been banned from Twitter or had their tweets deleted for discussing the possibility (which now seems a near certainty) that the virus originated in Wuhan?

How many individuals have been censored because they wanted to have an online debate about the effectiveness of masks? And let’s not forget the many individuals who have voiced caution about vaccine mandates from the government. Twitter has a zero-tolerance policy for such expression of opinions.
Twitter is more willing to shut down the accounts of Americans whose views do not perfectly align with the company’s than to shut down the accounts of known international terrorists.

One of the main criticisms I hear about Parler, where I serve as the CEO, is the unfounded allegation that we do not police our platform enough.

Big Tech advocates often point to Parler and level the charge that we are a platform where "anything goes." That’s true, but only to a certain extent. Anything goes, as long as we are talking about political discourse – the kind that makes the Left shudder.

Differing political views are welcome at Parler; terrorist indoctrination and recruitment are not. We cherish the American traditions of debate and open dialogue. We seek to be America’s digital public square, where people gather for worthwhile discussions of the pressing policy and political challenges and ideas we encounter.

The Taliban has proven to be uninterested in such free exchange of ideas, and has no desire to be part of the public square.
A social media platform that blocks the former leader of the free world, while also allowing one of the world’s most violent terrorist organizations to use its platform is playing partisan and reckless politics.

Twitter would have us believe that it engaged in a thorough and careful review of former President Trump’s tweets back in January and concluded that its platform would only be safe if he were removed permanently. But today, a terrorist organization that systematically oppresses and abuses women and girls, employs terror as its chief "negotiating" tool, and executes dissenters, can use Twitter. Think about that.

Banning the Taliban from Parler wasn’t a difficult decision for us.

It should concern Americans that this decision is taking Twitter so long.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
×