The Taliban’s Use of the Internet, Social Media Video, Radio Stations, and Graffiti

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a variety of Taliban IO delivery systems some of which have not had scholarly assessments. The Taliban have had a major presence on the internet since their development of their main webpage – Alemarah. This site has become quite sophisticated over the years and is published in Pashto, Dari, Urdu, Arabic and English languages. Hence, the site targets a variety of audiences including the international community in addition to Afghans, Arabs, and Pakistanis. The Taliban also have a significant presence on social media to include sites on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They also use videos and DVDs to project their messages. They have affiliated “media studios such as Mana-ul Jihad, al Hijrat, and El Emarah which are described in detail in the chapter. They also use regular “spokesman” to interact with both local and international media. Finally they use a variety of radio stations to present their narratives and associated stories. Lastly they use graffiti to communicate with target audiences.

The ISIS Model and its Influence Over Global Terrorism

“…The Taliban, for example, has used Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram to disseminate information about its skirmishes with the Afghan government (Taylor, 2019). The Taliban owns media studios such as Mana-ul Jihad, al-Hijrat, and al-Emarah (Johnson, 2018). On its English Telegram channel, al-Emarah, the Taliban broadcasts in different languages with the former two commanding 4,236 followers in 2016 (Ward, 2018).…”