Australia is set to ban teenagers from social media to protect mental health. Meanwhile, the Taliban in Afghanistan has cut off fiber-optic internet in a province to “prevent immorality,” according to the Associated Press.
The ban, the first of its kind since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, leaves government agencies, businesses, public organizations and households in the northern province of Balkh without Wi-Fi access.
A provincial government spokesperson said the measure aims to curb immorality, adding that authorities plan to develop a domestic alternative for essential needs. He did not specify why Balkh was targeted or if other provinces would follow.
Notably, in 2016, the U.N. Human Rights Council called internet access a basic human right that governments must guarantee.
