Taliban Has Banned Smartphones And Is Smashing Them In Public: Here's The Reason Why

A new Taliban order means government officials caught with a smartphone could watch it get smashed on the spot. The reason behind it has been building for months.

Taliban says it's about leaks and lost productivity.

Source : ABPLIVE AI

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• Taliban banned smartphones, destroying devices of government officials.
• Ban addresses leaks, productivity; phones already confiscated in Herat.
• Decision follows Herat protests; wider restrictions feared after videos.

The Taliban have rolled out a strict ban on smartphone use among government officials, and the punishment for breaking the rule is severe: phones are being physically destroyed on the spot. The order, issued through the Taliban's military courts, applies to everyone from senior officials to general staff, and only the supreme leader can grant an exemption. While the directive itself is new, the reasoning behind it has been building for months, tied to fears of leaked documents, falling productivity and growing unease after deadly protests in Herat.

What Is The Reason Behind The Taliban's Smartphone Crackdown?

According to a directive reviewed by the Guardian, anyone caught using a phone faces having it smashed, along with "legal and sharia punishment." Videos circulating online show a Taliban official reading out the order while another person breaks phones on camera. The Guardian could not reach a Taliban spokesperson for comment.

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An analyst who tracks Afghanistan said the crackdown stems from multiple concerns. One is leaks: officials have reportedly been photographing official documents and even recording meetings, allowing sensitive material to surface publicly before the supreme leader signs off on it. The other is productivity. "People are just on their phones all the time, and they're not working. And, you know, smartphones shouldn't belong at work," the analyst said.

In Herat, two government employees said the rule had quietly been in place for months before this formal order. "About two months ago, they said not to bring your mobile phones to the office," one said. When he and his colleagues ignored the instruction, their phones were confiscated and destroyed, a loss he put at around 8,000 afghanis (£95).

Could This Be A Sign Of Wider Restrictions To Come?

The timing has also raised questions, coming soon after protests broke out in Herat over the arrest of women for "improper hijab," during which Taliban forces allegedly opened fire, killing at least two people. The analyst said footage of the unrest "raised a lot of alarms" for the Taliban, who initially denied the incident before video evidence emerged.

Some fear the policy could expand beyond officials. "It could be a prelude to a blanket ban, and they are just testing the waters," the analyst said, pointing to earlier instances where bans on women, students and medical workers were enforced inconsistently across provinces.

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