Imagine that you wake up tomorrow morning to find that you no longer have access to the Internet. Neither do your parents, classmates, or teachers. And no one knows when or if access will be restored. That’s the situation that people in Afghanistan found themselves in for 48 hours recently, from September 29 to October 1, 2025. Here, btw takes a closer look and what happened, and at what restrictions are still in place.
A Serious Ban
The Taliban–the very conservative Islamic leaders in charge of Afghanistan’s government, has been in power since 2021. On September 29, it shut down Internet access to about 14 percent of ordinary levels across the entire country. Leading up to this, the Taliban had been cutting fiber-optic connections for weeks in many rural areas of the country. The shutdown in September impacted more people because it also included the nation’s capital, Kabul. The Taliban did not give a reason for the shutoff but said that it would remain in effect indefinitely. Telephone services and television and radio networks were also seriously disrupted.
The ban cut off much of Afghanistan’s access to the outside world. All flights in and out of the country were temporarily grounded. Small businesses could no longer operate. Online banking was severely affected, causing runs on banks and widespread bank closures. Journalists could not get news into or out of the country. Humanitarian aid was cut off. The ban also shut down online education, which is especially critical for women and girls because they are not allowed to attend in-person school beyond age 12 under the Taliban regime.
It was still possible for Afghanis to connect to the Internet using mobile data, but this option is too expensive for many Afghani people. A monthly plan with 100GB of data costs about $50 USD per month. This is more than what most households can afford. In fact, at this price, six months of Internet access would cost an entire year’s salary in Afghanistan.
The United Nations (UN) announced that the blackout would cause serious economic and humanitarian harm to Afghanistan. The UN called on Taliban authorities to immediately and fully restore service. On October 1, connectivity was largely restored.
What’s Happening Now?
However, restoring Internet connectivity did not mean that Afghanis regained full access to the World Wide Web. According to UN experts, beginning October 7, the Taliban began restricting access to popular social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and X.
For Afghanis, this restriction means that they are losing access to an essential communication method with family members living abroad, many of whom provide them with money and other vital resources.
The UN has stated that the Internet shutdown and social media restrictions are a violation of Afghanis’ civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. The group has called on Taliban authorities to reinstate full access, and not to impose any similar bans in the future.