When the Taliban stormed back into power in August 2021, the world watched in horror as the regime instantly began erasing rights. Now, following a “total internet blackout,” according to NetBlocks, an internet watchdog, fears are mounting that the erasure is nearly complete.
Since 2021, Afghan women have been systematically stripped of their rights, voices, and visibility; the latter now extends to the entire country which, on Tuesday, 30th September, was plunged into digital darkness. Women—already silenced on the streets and within the confines of their own homes (under the Taliban’s “vice and virtue” laws, women are forbidden from speaking loudly inside their homes so their voices aren’t heard outside)—are now separated from the signals that allowed them a small connection to life beyond their borders.
