Facebook-owned messenger WhatsApp cannot block Taliban messages due to end-to-end encryption

The Taliban are using a chat app owned by Facebook to distribute messages to Afghan citizens as they take over the country.

Web portal Vice reported that messenger WhatsApp does not and cannot block Taliban messages in Afghanistan. Employees of this online service do not understand what is written in these messages and cannot promptly enforce administrative bans.

The Taliban is considered a terrorist group in the U.S., and all U.S. social networks and online services are required to block the accounts of its users in accordance with this country's policy on dangerous organizations.

Today, Facebook is actively deleting accounts that send messages to the Taliban, who use the social network to spread their ideas and win the favor of local residents. Censorship is working in real time and has already deleted a large number of accounts from Facebook and Instagram.

But it is impossible to do so on WhatsApp because the app uses end-to-end encryption, and US experts have no way of knowing exactly what Afghan users are writing even in open chats.

Source: vice