Taliban’s Internet Clampdown Deepens Afghanistan’s Isolation

Though access is back, throttling and platform blocks persist, reflecting tightened internet restrictions nationwide.

At the end of September, the Taliban abruptly severed Wi-Fi and fiber-optic internet in Afghanistan for 48 hours without any explanation. The disruption caused distress and hardship for millions of Afghans, especially those who rely on the internet for education and online commerce.

Closing girls’ schools had not entirely stopped students from pursuing education, as many found workarounds through online classes. The Taliban therefore targeted Wi-Fi and fiber-optic internet to cut off all those possibilities.

Even though the internet blockage has been lifted, speeds remain significantly lower than normal, and certain social media sites, such as Instagram and Facebook, appear intentionally restricted, according to foreign journalists reporting from the country.

Nilam, 23, recalls how her online English lesson was suddenly disconnected, leaving her desperate. “At that moment, my world went dark. I felt like I had lost everything and all my dreams were destroyed right in front of me,” she said. She recounted previous decrees issued by the Taliban that closed schools and universities, “and how many times I was forced to stay home.”

Online English courses, she said, were her only available channel to learn a language, find a job, or study abroad. When it appeared this option was also blocked, she felt lost and in total despair.

As she puts it, “It was as if I were living in the century of carrier pigeons; the Taliban have cut us off from the flow of global progress.”

The Taliban’s stated reason for severing internet access was to curb “immorality,” arguing that widespread access among young people and the use of smartphones generates moral corruption. However, media experts reject this explanation as a cover for the Taliban’s main objective: denying girls’ access to education, a flagship policy since they returned to power four years ago.

The shutdown began in the provinces of Balkh, Baghlan, Kandahar, and Paktia and was extended to fifteen other provinces the following day, denying internet access to millions of Afghans. For many low-income households, Wi-Fi was the most affordable option because multiple family members could use a single connection for study and work at a lower cost than mobile data.

Nooria, in Mazar-i-Sharif, like many women who lost jobs due to Taliban edicts, turned to online commerce to support her family. “After the fall of the republic, I turned to online selling to cover living expenses. Through this work, I could meet my own needs and help support part of my family’s expenses. But now, with wireless internet cut off, continuing this work has become nearly impossible,” she said.

Mobile data is prohibitively expensive. “By paying 2,000 Afghanis (about 26 Euros), our entire family could use wireless internet,” she explains. “My little sister would study, my brothers would work on their lessons, and I could continue my online work. But now, if we want to buy mobile data, we would have to pay separately for each person, a cost we simply cannot afford.”

Ahmad, an internet service provider in Herat, emphasizes that limited access makes internet use almost meaningless. “Apart from simple messaging on WhatsApp, nothing else will be allowed. That means no education, no online work, no research, and no free connection with the outside world,” he said.

Last month’s outage was described by local users and providers as the most sweeping multi-province shutdown since the fall of the Afghan Republic on August 15, 2021.

At the beginning of 2025, 13.2 million people — around 30.5 percent of the population — had internet access in Afghanistan, according to the specialist website DataReportal. About 4.05 million people were using social media.

Experts believe the Taliban are attempting to completely isolate Afghan society from global communication, allowing only a small group connected to business or government to access the internet. Analysts warn that such restrictions will severely cripple the social, educational, and economic life of ordinary citizens and deal a severe blow to the education of Afghan women and girls, pushing society further into isolation.