“If the Internet Is Cut Off, All Girls Will Remain Illiterate”: Taliban Ban Threatens Afghan Girls’ Last Lifeline

On September 16, Taliban officials in the Balkh province of Afghanistan announced that WiFi services would be shut down under orders from Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. The directive, justified as a move to prevent “immorality,” has since been extended to as many as nine other provinces, including Kandahar, Nimroz, Uruzgan, and Helmand, according to local news reports.

“From now on, there will be no internet access through this cable and all connections have been cut off,” Attaullah Zaid, a spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Balkh, said in a statement posted on X.

Press freedom groups have condemned the move as an alarming escalation of censorship. “Banning broadband internet is an unprecedented escalation of censorship that will undermine journalists’ work and the public’s right to information,” said Beh Lih Yi, regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “The Taliban should end their cycle of repression and unconditionally restore internet access, which is an essential tool for news gathering.”

The blackout carries particular consequences for Afghan women and girls, who have already been barred from education beyond the sixth grade, pushed out of most jobs, and stripped of basic rights under Taliban rule. With broadband suspended, many lose one of their last avenues for connection—whether to pursue online learning, run small businesses from home, or share their stories with the outside world.

Many young women in Afghanistan have expressed using social media to escape their lives of imprisonment. The mental health crisis for women and girls already runs deep, with women making up more than three-quarters of recorded suicide deaths in the country since the Taliban reclaimed control in 2021. For many, social media serves as a temporary escape valve, a reminder that freedom for women still exists.

“Social media is not just an app; it’s our only link to a world that feels alive, a place where we can be ourselves and express our dreams. We long for the freedom to pursue our dreams openly, but until then, we cling to these online spaces as our lifeline,” 23-year-old Breshna* in Kabul told More to Her Story.

For the girls who relied on the internet to study under Taliban restrictions, the news comes as a devastating blow.

“Our Wi-Fi is already gone, and soon even mobile internet will be disconnected. They want to turn [Afghanistan] into North Korea. If we protest, the Taliban will kill us on the spot,” said Zahra*, 21. “When they closed the girls’ schools and universities, we started studying at the online universities. If the Internet is cut off, all girls will remain illiterate.”

*Names have been changed for safety reasons.