Facebook says it has banned content supporting Taliban

Social media giant Facebook has said that it has banned the Taliban and all content supporting it from its platforms as it considers the group to be a terrorist organisation, according to a media report.

The company says it has a dedicated team of Afghan experts to monitor and remove content linked to the insurgent group.

For years, the Taliban has used social media to spread its messages.

"The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organisation policies. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them," a Facebook spokesperson told the BBC.

"We also have a dedicated team of Afghanistan experts, who are native Dari and Pashto speakers and have knowledge of local context, helping to identify and alert us to emerging issues on the platform," the spokesperson said.

The social media giant said it does not make decisions about the recognition of national governments but instead follows the "authority of the international community".

Facebook highlighted that the policy applies to all of its platforms, including its flagship social media network, Instagram and WhatsApp.

However, there are reports that the Taliban is using WhatsApp to communicate.

Facebook told the BBC that it would take action if it found accounts on the app to be linked to the group.

The brutal war in Afghanistan reached a watershed moment on Sunday when the Taliban insurgents closed in on Kabul before entering the city and took over the presidential palace, forcing embattled President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country.

• Return of the Taliban