The Taliban has banned fibre-optic (WiFi) internet in 15 provinces across Afghanistan, one of the most significant steps yet in their effort to control digital access and restrict the flow of information. In Balkh province, a local spokesperson confirmed the order as a “complete ban” issued directly by the group’s leader.
Officials claim the move is intended to block “immorality” and “harmful content” online.
In Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh, internet service providers were warned of severe penalties for noncompliance. The directive prohibits government offices, schools, businesses, and private homes from using wired internet connections. Only companies registered with the Taliban’s Department of Commerce are permitted to retain WiFi. Mobile data remains available but weaker and under tighter monitoring and higher costs compared to WiFi.
For Afghan women and students, the ban is devastating. Online education and communication had become their last lifeline after the Taliban stripped away access to schools, universities, jobs, and public spaces.
Afghan women who study online worry that the “last option” of learning and doing business is “taken away” from them by the Taliban as well.
“The Internet was the only thing we had left. They took schools, universities, parks, gyms, and everything from us. Now they are taking the internet as well. I don’t know how to feel hopeful anymore,” said Beheshta, a young Afghan woman attending online classes.
Another woman, Fatima, who relies on the internet to stay in touch with her family abroad, expressed fear:
“I feel suffocated just thinking about not being able to connect with my family. This was the only way to hear their voices and stay connected.”
Afghanistan already ranks among the countries with the lowest internet penetration in the world; some 20 percent of households had reliable access even before this ban. The decision has hit students and professionals especially hard. Since the Taliban banned women from education, many university students in Balkh relied on WiFi to attend online courses, download study materials, and connect with peers abroad. For women barred from classrooms, online education was one of the few remaining paths to keep learning.
In conversations with Afghan women, many said the Taliban has “sworn to suppress and take away everything from Afghan women,” and the internet ban is yet another “step in erasing our futures.”
Saba, another student who takes online classes in northern Afghanistan, explained:
“The Internet was the only way to learn, stay informed, and connect to the world. If this goes too, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
The ban is part of a broader Taliban strategy of controlling media and information. It mirrors their first regime in the 1990s, when they destroyed televisions and radios. Today, instead of smashing devices, the Taliban seeks to dominate digital platforms, promoting pro-Taliban narratives through approved influencers while silencing independent voices.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on education beyond elementary school, most forms of employment, and participation in public life. Women are even barred from speaking with one another in public. The internet, a lifeline for Afghan female students, journalists, and activists, has increasingly come under scrutiny over the past four years.
Although the WiFi ban is currently in place in almost half the country, many fear it could spread nationwide and remain indefinite. For women and students already erased from public life, this latest restriction further deepens their isolation.
As one Afghan woman put it when speaking to us:
“The Taliban has taken our schools, our jobs, our freedoms. Now they are taking the Internet, the last way we had to learn and to connect with the world.”
