Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners.
In the weeks since the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan from a U.S.-backed government, reports have highlighted how biometric and Afghan payroll databases might be exploited by the new rulers to hunt their enemies.
In a statement on Friday, Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O) stopped short of confirming that Afghan government accounts were being locked down, saying that the company was monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and “taking temporary actions to secure relevant accounts.”
One former Afghan government employee told Reuters that the Taliban had asked him to preserve data held on servers belonging to the ministry he used to work for.
“If I do so, then they will get access to the data and official communications of the previous ministry leadership,” said the man, who added that he did not comply and is now in hiding.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a question from The Post about what actions, if any, the company was taking to keep that data out of Taliban hands.
Days after the Taliban entered Kabul on Aug. 15, Google-owned YouTube said it would “terminate” any account it believes to be operated by the extremist group. By contrast, Twitter said it would allow Taliban accounts to remain on the service while “proactively” enforcing its rules against “glorification of violence, platform manipulation and spam.”
Meanwhile, The Associated Press reported Friday that Western Union — which halted service after the militants entered Kabul — will resume transfers, which may help Afghans to receive cash from relatives living abroad. Most of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves, however, are held abroad and frozen while Western nations consider how to engage with the Taliban, putting pressure on the local currency.
There was no immediate comment from Western Union to the AP on the resumption of service.
The Taliban has sought to show a moderate face to the watching world as it consolidates control of Afghanistan, but their conciliatory statements have been belied by reports this week that the group’s members were carrying out “house-to-house executions” in Kabul and elsewhere in the country.
Last month, United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned of “summary executions” and strict restrictions on women in areas under Taliban control, while the family of an Afghan folk singer reported that their relative had been executed by the Taliban days after it declared “music is forbidden in Islam.”
