As the Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, journalists questioned leaders on their policies, particularly those pertaining to women, human rights, and freedom of speech. The Taliban even hosted its first news conference on Aug. 17, 2021. And they found an unusual person who agreed with them on one point: Donald Trump Jr., son of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid promised the Taliban would respect women’s rights and “full security” across the country in an attempt to convince the world that the notoriously brutal group had turned a page in its dark history. But in response to a question about freedom of speech in Afghanistan, he said:
"This question should be asked to those people who are claiming to be promoters of freedom of speech. Do not allow publication of all information, news, I can ask Facebook company. This question should be asked to them."
A full transcript of the news conference can be found on Al Jazeera English.
In response to Mujahid’s comment about Facebook, Don Jr. tweeted, “LOL … Also not wrong.”
Trump's father, the former president, has been banned from Facebook and Instagram for up to two years. The company said this was “following his praise for people engaged in violence at the [U.S.] Capitol on January 6.”
Facebook has also banned Taliban-related content. A Facebook spokesperson told the BBC, “The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization 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.”
We therefore rate this claim a “Correct Attribution.”