Twitter has picked up an unexpected ally in its battle with new rival Threads - the Taliban.
Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official with more than half a million followers, said Twitter's approach to free speech makes it irreplaceable.
“Twitter has two important advantages over other social media platforms,” Haqqani said in a tweet.
“The first privilege is the freedom of speech. The second privilege is the public nature & credibility of Twitter. Twitter doesn't have an intolerant policy like Meta. Other platforms cannot replace it.”
Meta, which views the Taliban as a terrorist organisation, banned Taliban-associated accounts after the group's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. The UN recently described Afghanistan under the Taliban as, "the most repressive country in the world for women’s rights."
Twitter, unlike Meta, allows Taliban officials to post freely, despite sustained criticism that the group breaks community guidelines on multiple fronts.
While the slackened moderation - among other reasons - has led to regular users and advertisers fleeing the platform, for Haqqani it's the biggest draw.
His comments came a which is designed to rival Twitter.
Since it launched last Thursday, there has been steady debate about which micro-blogging platform will prevail. In a matter of days, more than 100 million users have reportedly signed up to Threads. The launch comes as Twitter’s website traffic is “tanking”, internet services company Cloudflare reported.
The new Threads app by Meta launched last Thursday, sparking debate on the longevity of Twitter. Source: AAP, EPA / Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich
Khan, who led the #BanTaliban campaign last year in a bid to get it booted from the platform, said the Taliban official behind that endorsement is from a notorious faction of the group.
"Anas's father set up the Haqqani network and comes from a violent family of terrorists," he said.
In 2019, Haqqani was part of a prisoner swap involving three Taliban members and two Western academics - Australian Timothy Weeks and Kevin King from the US. Weeks and King had been captured by the Taliban and held in Afghanistan - where they had been working - and Haqqani and two other senior Taliban members had been jailed by Afghan authorities. Haqqani and the two other members initially went to Qatar on their release.
"If (Anas Haqqani) was just a civilian why would the Taliban ask for his release?" Khan said.
Echoing criticisms under Haqqani's tweet from others on social media, Khan said his views were plainly hypocritical.
"People have been beaten up by the Taliban for merely posting something on Facebook or on other social media platforms," Khan said.
"They don't respect freedom of speech - but they talk about it. The audacity surprises me."
Khan said since the takeover, Afghan journalists have not been allowed the same freedoms which Haqqani praises.
"The Taliban pay visits to the media outlets that are still operating within Afghanistan and all their broadcasting has drastically changed since the takeover," Khan said.
When Twitter wiped all blue ticks for official accounts - which previously indicated "authentic accounts in the public interest" - the Taliban bought ticks for themselves. When Meta banned Taliban accounts, Khan said Taliban officials on the ground were "constantly asking their soldiers to switch from Meta to Twitter."
He said a few months ago, the Taliban started a "Twitter trend to glorify suicide bombings and commemorate the sacrifices or so-called sacrifices of those suicide bombers that have killed thousands of civilians".
"They're using it to portray an image of Afghan that is not true, to spread propaganda and disinformation."
Khan hopes Twitter's decision-makers will "realise the Taliban presence is worrying - especially to Afghans."
