Taliban Bans Smartphones for Afghan Officials
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- Afghanistan's Taliban government issued a military court order banning smartphone use by "all officials of the military and civilian institutions, including judges," effective June 16.
- Violators will have their cellphones smashed and face punishment under the law, according to the order seen by Reuters.
- Government employees said the restriction has already severely disrupted official work, with many administrative processes effectively halted because most work was previously carried out through mobile phones, WhatsApp, and email.
- Panjshir province's governor announced immediate implementation of the ban inside all provincial offices.
- Rights advocates warned that smartphones remain one of the few tools Afghans use to access education, document abuses, communicate privately, and reach uncensored information.
- Women's rights activist Sanam Kabiri, based in Australia, said the ban raises concerns that the objective may extend beyond maintaining administrative order to restricting information and communication.
Why it matters: For Afghanistan's roughly half-a-million civil servants, a workflow built on phones and WhatsApp now faces a hard stop, with violators risking destroyed devices and legal punishment. Rights advocates say the order compounds the Taliban's existing restrictions on women, media, and civil society since their August 2021 return to power, narrowing one of the last channels Afghans had for independent information.
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