by Ali Hassan
With education, work, and freedom already stripped away, Afghan women now face a total internet blackout — cutting off their final connection to learning, income, and the outside world.
For many Afghan women, the internet was more than just a tool — it was the last remaining pathway to education, work, and hope. That path has now been severed.
On Tuesday, the Taliban imposed a nationwide internet shutdown, plunging Afghanistan into a digital blackout. According to the monitoring group NetBlocks, the move has “paralysed essential services” across the country, disrupting everything from flights at Kabul airport to satellite television, mobile networks, and online education.
For women like Fahima Noori, a law and midwifery graduate who had been studying at an online university, the shutdown feels like the final blow. “Our last hope was online learning. Now even that dream has been destroyed,” she said, speaking under a changed name to protect her identity.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have progressively stripped women of public life — banning girls over 12 from school, restricting women’s employment, and removing books written by women from university libraries. For students like Fahima and her two sisters, the internet had been their only way to stay educated, connected, and independent. “We dreamed of finishing our education and helping our father financially,” she said. “Now we all sit at home doing nothing.”
The blackout has also upended livelihoods. Teachers like Zabi, who ran online English classes for up to 80 students at a time, say their students — many preparing for the IELTS exam — have been left stranded mid-exam. “For my female students, this was their last chance,” he said. “And now even that is gone.”
Before the shutdown, mobile data remained an option, but it was too expensive for most Afghans. A 100GB monthly plan costs the equivalent of $50 — nearly one-sixth of the country’s annual per capita income, according to UNDP figures. Shared Wi-Fi, which had been far cheaper, is now unavailable.
The Taliban have yet to provide an official explanation for the blackout, saying only that “alternative routes” for internet access will be created. In the meantime, commerce, education, and communication have ground to a halt. “Our business has been affected by about 90%,” said Anas, a money changer from Takhar province whose three daughters were all studying online. “The hardest part for me is seeing my children so helpless. Their last opportunity to study is gone.”
For many Afghans, particularly women, the shutdown represents not just a technological loss but a symbolic one: the erasure of their last link to the outside world.
(Associated Medias) – all rights reserved
L’articolo Afghan Women Lose Their ‘Last Lifeline’ as Taliban Shuts Down Internet Nationwide proviene da Associated Medias.
