The audio chat application Clubhouse is trying to protect its users in Afghanistan by erasing the profiles and images of thousands of accounts in the country to protect users who have previously registered for the service from harm.
After Afghanistan was occupied by the Taliban, social media platforms are taking steps to try to protect their users. For the social audio application Clubhouse, it is achieving this goal by making it as difficult as possible for hostile individuals to track individual users.
The clubhouse has reset the account information of thousands of Afghan users, erasing their resumes and photos in the process. This change applies to accounts that have not been active for a period of time, and it also makes the account more difficult to find during the search process.
The notice issued by Clubhouse stated that this change is for user safety, but all such pre-set safety factors can be reversed. According to the message, users can choose to make their accounts easier to discover by sending a specific support request and mentioning this specially handled country.
A message form @Clubhouse to #Afghanistan’s users. pic.twitter.com/CpS4iz0L1J
— Zaki Daryabi (@ZDaryabi) August 19, 2021
A spokesperson for the app said that deleting account information does not affect any followers, and all elements are completely reversible if needed. The club also recommends that people in the country use pseudonyms, and Clubhouse policy allows pseudonyms for human rights and security purposes.
After the Taliban took over the Afghan regime, other major social networks have taken measures to restrict the use or abuse of accounts. Facebook has blocked the ability to view or search the friend list of Afghan accounts and provides users with a one-click tool to lock their accounts. Facebook is actively banning Taliban content because it is classified as a terrorist organization under US law.
LinkedIn has hidden external links from Afghan users, once again limiting the ability of bad actors to see any connections that are believed to be with the West or the former Afghan government. Twitter is working with the Internet Archive to delete archived tweets at the request of affected users. In the case where users cannot access the account to delete information that may put them at risk, Twitter will also temporarily suspend the account until the user can regain control.
