Afghanistan has been plunged into a digital darkness after the Taliban imposed a sweeping nationwide shutdown of telecommunications and internet services in late September 2025, leaving more than 43 million people suddenly offline. The move, described by internet watchdog NetBlocks as a "total internet blackout," has severed the country’s vital connections to the outside world at a time when Afghans are already reeling from a devastating earthquake and ongoing humanitarian crises.
The blackout began in phases in mid-September, with Taliban authorities first cutting fibre-optic connections in several provinces, including Balkh, Badakhshan, Takhar, Kandahar, Helmand, and Nangarhar. By September 29, the shutdown reached its final stage, disabling almost all mobile phone networks and leaving only the most basic 2G services—temporarily—before those, too, largely disappeared. Telephone lines, which rely on the same fibre infrastructure, were also affected, further isolating communities across the country, according to Al Jazeera and BBC reports.
Taliban officials have justified the shutdown as a measure to "prevent vice" and "immorality," citing concerns about online pornography and inappropriate interactions between men and women. The group’s spokesperson in Balkh province stated on social media, "This measure was taken to prevent vice." However, critics, including Afghan rights activists and Islamic scholars, argue that there is no religious basis for such a sweeping clampdown. As reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), many see the blackout as part of a broader campaign to suppress individual freedoms and control the flow of information.
The consequences have been immediate and far-reaching. Humanitarian efforts, already under immense strain following the magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on August 31, have been severely disrupted. The disaster killed over 2,000 people, injured 3,600, and left 8,500 homes damaged. With winter now upon Afghanistan, displaced families in provinces like Kunar face plummeting temperatures and urgent needs for insulated shelters and warm clothing. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has warned that the blackout is hampering coordination with aid teams delivering life-saving relief. "We don't have connectivity with them," explained Indrika Ratwatte, the top UN official in Afghanistan, via a patchy satellite link from Kabul. "The trauma is quite immense," he added, recalling meeting a woman who had lost 11 family members in the quake.
UNAMA has called on Taliban leaders to "immediately and fully restore Internet and telecommunications services," emphasizing that the shutdown not only impedes humanitarian work, but also disrupts health programs, banking, and financial services. "At a community level, I would imagine that for normal business transactions, for banking, for cash transfers, for remittances that come from abroad, which are critical for these communities, that's been cut off," Ratwatte told the UN news service.
Ordinary Afghans have felt the impact acutely. A resident of Badakhshan told RFE/RL that the shutdown had caused "many problems" and "a lot of negative effects on our lives." Many people can no longer work or stay in touch with family members, both inside Afghanistan and abroad. Afghan journalist Nilofar Ayoubi, now living overseas, shared her distress on social media: "I haven't been able to reach my mother in Afghanistan for the past nine hours due to the internet blackout. Tonight, I feel just as hopeless and powerless as I did on the night of August 15, 2021."
The blackout has also thrown the country’s fragile economy into further turmoil. Even before the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Afghanistan’s economy was teetering, with nearly half the population living below the poverty line and unemployment rampant. Online platforms such as Aseel, which allowed Afghan artisans—many of them women—to sell goods internationally, have been rendered inaccessible. The Associated Press and AFP reported that they could not reach their Kabul bureaus, and e-commerce, social media income sources, and charitable giving platforms have all been disrupted. Sheela Samimy, a former Afghan finance official, told Al Jazeera that "a telecoms shutdown could well exacerbate Afghanistan’s economic struggles."
Banking and hospital services have also been affected, with diplomatic officials telling the BBC that the shutdown could disrupt the entire financial system. Many Afghans, cut off from remittances and unable to access their bank accounts, are facing new hardships. The shutdown has even grounded flights: on September 30, nine departures and arrivals at Kabul International Airport were cancelled, according to Flightradar24. International flights have been sporadically halted, further isolating the country.
For Afghan women and girls, the consequences are especially dire. Since 2021, the Taliban has banned girls from secondary education and women from most jobs, including working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In September 2025, authorities barred Afghan women on UN staff from entering the organization’s premises. Many women had turned to online education provided by international educators and charities, but the blackout has now cut off even these last avenues for learning. As reported by Al Jazeera, women’s rights activist Sanam Kabiri, an Afghan living in Pakistan, lamented, "The Taliban are using every tool at their disposal to suppress the people. What else do these ignorant men of another century want from our oppressed people?"
Media watchdogs and international organizations have condemned the Taliban’s actions as an assault on freedom of expression and access to information. The UN mission in Afghanistan warned on September 30 that "the cut in access has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people, including by threatening economic stability and exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises."
Some Afghans have tried to find workarounds. In Hairatan, a town near the Uzbek border, a teacher told RFE/RL she had purchased an Uzbek SIM card after her Afghan card was deactivated. Yet for most, communication remains impossible. Haroon Basir, an Afghan journalist now in France, described the pain of being unable to reach loved ones: "This is a huge pain for me. It’s a huge challenge for thousands of Afghans who are outside Afghanistan and cannot contact their families."
As discussions continue between the UN and Taliban authorities to seek a waiver for "critical connectivity" for aid teams, the country remains in limbo. Flights are still being cancelled, international aid is hamstrung, and millions remain cut off from the world. For now, as winter deepens and needs surge, Afghanistan’s digital blackout stands as a stark symbol of its growing isolation and the mounting challenges facing its people.
