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A U.S. soldier watches civilians at a processing center for Afghan refugees at Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia on Aug. 24, 2021.Photo: Joshua Roberts (Getty Images)

Airbnb said on Tuesday it will provide free temporary accommodations to 20,000 Afghan refugees fleeing the Talibans virtually complete takeover of Afghanistan in the wake of U.S. military withdrawal, with the program beginning immediately.

CEO Brian Chesky tweeted early Tuesday that the company will begin housing 20,000 Afghan refugees globally for free, adding that while the company will be paying for the stays, we could not do this without the generosity of our Hosts. Chesky added: The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the US and elsewhere is one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time. We feel a responsibility to step up.

In a statement, Airbnb said that that it and Chesky would be covering costs through the non-profit 501(c)(3) Airbnb.org, which has previously provided housing for disaster victims and health workers during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The organization will also be soliciting donations for its Refugee Fund. It is working with resettlement agencies and other partners to identify those in need of housing. The company added that it urges fellow members of the global business community to join efforts to provide immediate support to Afghan refugees.

Reached by email, Airbnb did not say how long it would be providing the housing or covering bills. However, the company wrote in the statement it has already provided 165 refugees from Afghanistan safe housing shortly after touching down in the U.S. over the last weekend.

The Taliban, an ultra-reactionary Islamic militant group originally backed by the CIA and Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence agency to fight the Soviets during the Cold War, controlled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when they were deposed by the U.S. in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks for providing safe haven to the Al-Qaeda terror network. But it was never even close to being destroyed and continued to fight both the U.S.-led coalition occupying the country and security forces commanded by the U.S.-backed Afghan government. President Joe Bidens administration, having promised to bring an end to the seemingly never-ending U.S. occupation of the country, has so far chosen to abide by a deal struck with the Taliban under Donald Trumps administration to pull out all U.S. troops (though it extended the timeline to the end of August 2021). Despite assurances to the contrary from Bidens administration, the Afghan government put up little resistance and effectively ceased to exist beyond isolated groups of holdouts as Taliban forces consolidated control in mere weeks.

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The 20 disastrous years of U.S. occupation stretched across four presidential administrations, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and untold economic and social damage. And according to United Nations estimates, ended with just short of 2.5 million registered Afghan refugees. The only part of Afghanistan where U.S. military forces remain stationed is the airport in Kabul, where tens of thousands of refugees desperate to avoid retribution and/or oppression by the resurgent Taliban have fled in recent weeks in a last-ditch effort to board the last planes leaving the country.

The Taliban have since announced that while they will let foreign nationals leave, they will not allow Afghan citizens to reach the airport, and they oppose any continued evacuations beyond Aug. 31. Witnesses have described the militant groups crackdown on dissent and reprisals against those suspected of assisting U.S. or NATO forces during the occupation. On Tuesday, according to CNBC, the Biden administration said it had evacuated or helped evacuate some 58,700 people from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, including about 21,600 airlifted since Monday. According to the Washington Post, Biden told G-7 leaders on Tuesday that he believes the evacuation will be completed by the Aug. 31 deadline. While he is not expected to announce an extension, the White House left open the possibility that the final withdrawal date could change if necessary.

Many of the refugees are currently in squalid conditions, such as in hangars at Doha, Qatars Al Udeid Air Base, where thousands are reportedly being held in searing August temperatures without air conditioning and a dire lack of resources. Axios obtained an email, sent last Friday by U.S. Central Command supervisory special agent Colin Sullivan, detailing conditions at the base including uncleaned human waste and a rat infestation. Sullivan wrote, While not in any way downplaying the conditions in Kabul nor the conditions the Afghanis [sic] are escaping from, the current conditions in Doha are of our own doing.

Airbnb said in the statement that Airbnb.org has provided accommodation to roughly 75,000 people in need since 2012. Chesky tweeted, I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. Theres no time to waste.

The company, which operated in Afghanistan during the U.S. occupation and still has a small number of listing there as of Tuesday afternoon, isnt the only one offering to help during the crisis (and implicitly pick up some PR goodwill in the process). According to Reuters, Verizon Inc. has announced plans to waive charges for calls to Afghanistan through Sept. 6, while Walmart is donating $1 million to nonprofits to support Afghan refugees. The Pentagon said this weekend that it has enlisted 18 aircraft from United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and others to take displaced persons to their next destinations after disembarking from flights leaving Afghanistan, Reuters added.

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Airbnb Says It Will Host 20,000 Afghan Refugees Following Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan - Gizmodo

Afghan militia gather with their weapons to support Afghanistan security forces against the Taliban, ... [+] in Afghan warlord and former Mujahideen leader Ismail Khan's house in Herat on July 9, 2021.

The Taliban control all 34 provinces in Afghanistan, Kabul, the capital city, the presidential palaceand possibly soon a slew of valuable digital assets: Twitter and Facebook accounts once operated by the nations democratically elected government.

The social media companies say they wont rule out allowing the Taliban to run those channels, which number more than two dozen across the two sites. Doing so would almost certainly hand the insurgents a useful platform on which to spread propaganda and misinformation, and no matter the decision, it is likely to reopen long-simmering debates about what should be on the internet and who should determine what belongs there.

If Im a large organization, like the Taliban, I want as many different pathways to shape my narratives and shape perceptions of what Im doing, says William Braniff, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism in Maryland. Having more channels is ultimately quite useful.

Twitter, whose spokesperson couldnt be reached to comment for this story, has allowed different Taliban accounts on its site in the past and continues to let the groups spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, tweet regularly to his 293,400 followers. Back in 2011, Sen. Joe Lieberman, then head of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Twitter complaining about two active Taliban accounts, which were eventually taken down. In 2021, Mujahid has been issuing updates throughout the latest conflict in Afghanistan, including one missive sent Monday that said, simply: The situation in Kabul is under control.

As for Facebook, it has officially banned the Taliban from its platform. But even with the prohibition against the organization on its books, Facebook says it cant yet decide what to do about the Afghan government accounts until more time passes, and theres greater clarity about the situation in the country.

The Afghan government accounts range from a Facebook page dedicated to the Afghan embassy in Washington to the Afghan Ministry of Defenses Twitter feed (its motto: Allah, Country, Duty!). These accounts have sizeable followings, likely totaling more than a million subscribers across all of them. These wide audiences would make them useful prizes for the Taliban, who could quickly take these megaphones and begin broadcasting information intended to damage opponents in the West or sow confusion about conditions in the country. They would work to bolster the groups existing efforts on social media to dispense misinformation and draw in recruits and funding.

Most crucially, these Afghan government platforms could give Taliban social media posts an added sheen of respectability and legitimacy. A post from an account belonging to a Taliban commander is one thing. One from a nations Ministry of Defense is another, particularly in an era where internet users have shown little ability to critically analyze whats shared online. It would add one degree of separation between the information and the Taliban, says Braniff.

Twitter and Facebook have long struggled to decide what type of content they would police and remove. Both Twitters Jack Dorsey and Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg have said theyre uncomfortable with the power to make those decisions and shied away from active moderation during much of their companies history. That has changed in recent years after the 2016 election and President Trumps use of social media demonstrated how damaging misinformation and conspiracy theories could become.

Twitter and Facebook already regularly take down large amounts of terrorist content. Facebook said it took action against 9 million pieces of such information in the first quarter, according to the companys latest transparency report, while Twitter said it did the same against nearly 60,000 accounts in the second half of 2020, according to its most recent transparency report. Unlike the challenge of stopping white supremacists and other homegrown radical groups, the social media companies have had greater experience in combating terrorists, whose ideology-laden and irony-free posts are easier for its AI moderation software to catch.

But here is where the situation gets a little trickier: The Taliban arent official terrorists. Or at least they dont appear on the State Departments list of foreign terrorist organizations, a roll that social media companies have in the past relied on to justify taking down accounts. Twitter, for instance, removed accounts linked to Hamas and Hezbollah in November 2019 with the company concluding, There is no place on Twitter for illegal terrorist organizations and violent extremist groups.

Perhaps the Talibans absence from the list could give some cover to Twitter, enough of a reason to hand over the government accounts to the Taliban. But Twitter would likely face pressure to apply the fact-check labels and warnings it has increasingly attached to misleading posts, as well as complaints from conservative U.S. lawmakers who are already outraged that President Trump cant use Twitter, but the Taliban still can.

Since Facebook has already outlawed the Taliban, its much less clear what justification the site could could take to grant the accounts to them. Facebook could fall back on an old idea: Some accounts are so important to hear from, Facebook cant possibly ban themtheyre not only too big to fail, theyre too newsworthy to fail. Matt Perault, director of Duke Universitys Center on Science & Technology, buys into this idea. I think its important that political organizations that run a country are able to speak so that people can see what those organizations believe, he says. The social media companies are going to be put in a really difficult position, but ultimately, its important that people are able to understand what a governing organization thinks. In years past, Facebook may have gone this route, but it has signaled a change in heart recently, one that may stop from them from doing so: In June, it said it would no longer give politicians special treatment and shield them from moderation rules. Its unclear whether the policy switch would apply to things like embassy or ministry accounts or solely to accounts run by elected officials, thought it could presumably.

Even if the platforms do permit the Taliban to run the accounts, they dont, of course, have to let them keep doing so forever. Theres a slower, alternative path the companies could take: Authorize the Taliban to access the accounts, then slowly, methodically catalog the rules they breakthen level a ban. But this would almost certainly require constant enforcement and active policingsomething the companies have long been wont to do. And just as surely, any time given to the Taliban to manage the accounts would give them opportunities to misuse them.

Spreading propaganda, recruiting people, radicalizing people, it would be that type of stuff, says Jeremy Blackburn, a computer science professor at Binghamton University who has studied hate speech and extremists online. Bottom line: Theyd have additional influence and increased reach. With more people hearing from you, you can spread information that much easier and that much further.

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Twitter, Facebook May Let Taliban Control Afghan Government Social Media Accounts - Forbes

Draft rules ban using algorithms or fake reviews to promote goods & services, prohibit forced exclusivity arrangements.

China has moved once again to tighten control of its technology sector, publishing detailed rules aimed at tackling unfair competition and companies handling of critical data.

On Tuesday, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued a set of draft regulations to cover protections for intellectual property and brand reputation as well as a ban against using algorithms or fake reviews to promote goods and services.

Alongside expressly prohibited behaviours like forced exclusivity arrangements, companies will also not be permitted to use technical means to interfere with the operations of rival platforms or maliciously render those services incompatible with their own.

The latter could force giants like Tencent and Alibaba to dismantle their walled-off ecosystems that had prevented users from accessing one companys services from the others platforms.

Beijing has been firming its grip on internet platforms in recent months, citing the risk of abusing market power to stifle competition, misuse of consumers information and violation of consumer rights, in a reversal after years of a more laissez-faire approach.

Tuesdays draft regulations are the latest in the governments change in stance even as it has issued hefty fines to companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and social media company Tencent Holdings as part of a widening crackdown.

Shares in Hong Kong-listed internet stocks slid after the rules were published. Video platform Bilibili Inc fell 7.4 percent, while Tencent, Alibaba, and food-delivery service Meituan dropped 4.1 percent, 4.2 percent, and 2.6 percent, respectively.

The proposed regulations specificity evidences a clear set of priorities in setting the rules of engagement for online competition, said Michael Norris, research and strategy manager at Shanghai-based consultancy AgencyChina.

If promulgated, the regulations will likely increase compliance burdens for transaction platforms, including e-commerce marketplaces and shoppable short video apps.

Internet operators must not implement or assist in the implementation of unfair competition on the Internet, disrupt the order of market competition, affect fair transactions in the market, the SAMR wrote in the draft, which is open to public feedback before a September 15 deadline.

Specifically, the regulator stated, business operators should not use data or algorithms to hijack traffic or influence users choices. They may also not use technical means to illegally capture or use other business operators data.

Companies would also be barred from fabricating or spreading misleading information to damage the reputation of competitors and need to stop marketing practices like fake reviews and coupons or red envelopes cash incentives used to entice positive ratings.

Soon after the draft tech rules were published, Chinas cabinet announced it would also implement regulations on protecting critical information infrastructure operators from September 1.

The State Council said operators must conduct security inspections and risk assessments once a year and should give priority to purchasing secure and credible network products and services, marking an elaboration on the landmark Cybersecurity Law that passed in 2017.

The Chinese government has also taken ownership stakes in the domestic entities of social media giants ByteDance and Weibo, Reuters reported on Tuesday citing corporate filings.

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Chinas new draft rules to further tighten control on tech sector - Al Jazeera English

EUs Borrell: We will have to talk to Taliban, but not recognize their rule

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the EU will have to talk to the Taliban after the group seized control of Afghanistan.

The Taliban have won the war, so we will have to talk with them, he says, while stressing this does not mean moving quickly to officially recognize their rule.

Borrell speaks following an urgent meeting of EU foreign ministers, called after the rebels overthrew the Afghan government.

The EU, many of whose members are also NATO allies which fought the group, is concerned about the fate of their citizens in Afghanistan, as well as local Afghan employees.

It is also worried that the Talibans brutal reputation and imposition of Islamist rule could hurt womens rights and trigger a new wave of migration towards Europe.

Borrell says that Brussels will engage in a dialogue as soon as necessary to prevent a humanitarian and a potential migratory disaster.

He adds: This dialogue will also have to focus on the means to prevent the return of a foreign terrorist presence in Afghanistan.

It is not a matter of official recognition, it is a matter of dealing with them, he says.If I want 400 people, Afghans and their families, that have been working for us today in the European Union delegations, to reach the airport, you can understand that I will need to talk with the Taliban authorities.

So we have to engage with them, he adds. And at the same time, remain very vigilant on the respect of their international obligations.

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Syrian media reports possible Israeli strike near the border - The Times of Israel

KABUL, Afghanistan For the first time since retaking power in Afghanistan, the Talibans leaders on Tuesday sketched out what their control of the country could look like, promising peace at home and urging the world to look past their history of violence and repression.

We dont want Afghanistan to be a battlefield anymore from today onward, war is over, said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Talibans longtime chief spokesman, in a news conference in Kabul, the capital.

Mr. Mujahid, a high-ranking leader, said the Taliban had declared a blanket amnesty, vowing no reprisals against former enemies. And the group has in some places appealed to civil servants including women to continue to go to work.

After days of uncertainty around the world over Afghanistans swift fall to a group notorious for its brutality, Mr. Mujahids words, delivered in a restrained tone, were a glimpse into a Taliban desire to portray themselves as ready to join the international mainstream.

But much of the world is wary of their reassurances. After taking over Afghanistan in 1996, the Taliban imposed their harsh interpretation of Islam with punishments like floggings, amputations and mass executions.

On Tuesday, a Biden administration official confirmed that any central bank assets the Afghan government had kept in the United States would not be available to the Taliban.

Many Afghans, too, remain utterly unconvinced by the new face presented by the Taliban, and its promises of political pluralism and womens and minority rights.

On Tuesday, fearful Afghans hunkered down in their homes or attempted to flee, joining the frenzied rush to Kabuls airport, which continued to be a scene of mass desperation and chaos two days after the Taliban entered the city. The group said its fighters were acting to restore order, but in some corners, they were also inflicting fear.

More broadly, the United Nations secretary-general warned of having received chilling reports of severe restrictions on human rights across Afghanistan since the Taliban began its takeover.

The Talibans vows of moderation unfolded in an extraordinary fashion on Tuesday evening, when Mr. Mujahid, showing his face in public for the first time, held a news conference in the same room where the government had held its press briefings just days earlier.

Around him were dozens of Afghan journalists, including women, a professional class born in the 20 years of Western development in the country, and a particular target of violence by the Taliban and other militants. Despite rampant fear about the Talibans intentions, the reporters directly challenged Mr. Mujahids promises.

Do you think the people of Afghanistan will forgive you? one reporter asked, noting the long campaign of Taliban bombings and attacks that claimed tens of thousands of civilian lives. Another noted that Mr. Mujahid sat in the same spot occupied until last week by a government spokesman who was assassinated by the Taliban.

Mr. Mujahid, responding patiently, allowed that civilian deaths had been unfortunate, but said such were the fortunes of war. Our families also suffered, he added.

The return to Afghanistan of Taliban leaders who had been gone for years, including Abdul Gani Baradar chief of the groups political office, who arrived on Tuesday in the southern city of Kandahar and Mr. Mujahid, illustrated the head-spinning changes taking place. Mr. Mujahid spoke to reporters in a government media center the United States had spent millions of dollars creating, where the only change in appearance this week was the white Taliban flag replacing the red and green Afghan one.

The Taliban appealed to Afghans not to leave the country, saying they had nothing to fear. But thousands of people have thronged the Kabul airport, hoping to get flights out, just two days after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and the Taliban entered the city.

In the chaos at the airport, where U.S. troops shot and killed at least two people on Monday and others fell to their deaths trying to cling to a U.S. military transport as it took off, there were reports of several more deaths on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of people have flooded the airport in waves, trying their luck for a flight to anywhere.

While American troops controlled a large part of the airport, the Taliban took control of the approaches to it, and at times beat people with rifle butts and clubs to force back the crowds trying to get in. It was not always clear whether they were attempting to prevent people from reaching the airport, or simply prevent another lethal crush.

The U.S. Embassy released a statement to Americans who want to leave that they should get to the airport, but added that the American government cannot guarantee your security on the way there a vivid illustration of the confusion on the ground.

Aug. 18, 2021, 4:50 a.m. ET

President Biden faced mounting criticism in Washington, including from fellow Democrats, over the stunning lack of preparation for the lightning advance of the Taliban and the collapse of government resistance, leading to confused and halting efforts to get Americans and their Afghan allies out of the country. Republicans said Mr. Biden was in too much of a hurry to withdraw U.S. forces, although he had postponed the date set by President Trump, who struck a deal with the Taliban.

We didnt need to be in this position; we didnt need to be seeing these scenes at Kabul airport with our Afghan friends climbing a C-17, said Representative Jason Crow, a Democrat of Colorado and a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan.

The Taliban appear to be in a stronger position now than when they were in power from 1996 to 2001. They struggled then to stamp out dogged opposition factions that held pockets of the country.

This month, after outlasting a superpower, the Taliban walked to control on a road paved with mass surrenders. The question now is how magnanimous they will be in victory, and how eager for international recognition and aid in other words, how different from the Taliban of a generation ago.

Taliban leaders including Amir Khan Muttaqi, a former information minister, are in talks with one-time adversaries, like the former U.S.-backed president, Hamid Karzai, about the shape of a new government, the Taliban said. Mr. Mujahid offered no hint of what would emerge, saying give us time.

But the involvement of Mr. Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, a former chief executive of the government, who are well known to world leaders, could give some legitimacy to any deal. Mr. Mujahid said the Taliban want friendly relations with the world, including the United States.

If the Taliban had wanted a one-sided government, they would have already declared an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan yesterday in the presidential palace, said Maulvi Qalamuddin, a former Taliban minister who reconciled long ago with what is now the former U.S.-backed Afghan government. They would have announced their cabinet. But no, in fact, they were waiting for this.

The mayor of Kabul, Muhammed Daoud Sultanzoy, said in a video message that the Taliban had left him in office at least for now and the health minister, Wahid Majroh, also remained in place.

But there has been at least one effort to open a resistance to the Taliban. Amrullah Saleh, the vice president of the toppled government, said he would take up the effort in Panjshir, a northern province that remained a thorn at the Talibans side the last time they were in power.

Who are the Taliban? The Taliban arose in 1994 amid the turmoil that came after the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including floggings, amputations and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Heres more on their origin story and their record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These arethe top leaders of the Taliban, men who have spent years on the run, in hiding, in jail and dodging American drones. They are emerging now from obscurity, but little is known about them or how they plan to govern.

How did the Taliban gain control? See how the Taliban took controlin Afghanistan and erased 20 years of defense in a few months.

It was unclear what kind of support Mr. Saleh might muster, but he used a clause in the Afghan Constitution about the absence of a sitting president to elevate himself.

I am currently inside my country and am the legitimate caretaker president, Mr. Saleh declared on Twitter.

The Taliban attempted on Tuesday to project an image of being a force for stability, while tapping into the feared reputation their law enforcement and intelligence services acquired before the group was driven from power in 2001 by a U.S.-led invasion. The Taliban intelligence chief for Kabul made a statement telling looters that his group was watching and making arrests.

The Talibans military chief, Muhammad Yaqoub, warned in an audio message released on social media that anyone caught looting will be dealt with, and that theft of government property is a betrayal of the country.

There is no permission to take a car or a house from someone or anything else, said Mr. Yaqoub, son of the Taliban founder, Mohammed Omar.

But already there have been reports of abuses, raising questions about whether the leaderships promises are hollow, or, as Mr. Mujahid suggested, are difficult to enforce during a turbulent transition. He said that Taliban fighters had been told not to enter Kabul until an orderly political transition could take place, but that the flight of Mr. Ghani and much of the security structure created a dangerous vacuum that the Taliban needed to fill quickly.

Armed men, apparently Taliban fighters, spread across Kabul on Tuesday on motorbikes and in Humvees seized from the security forces. Some directed traffic and projected a message of control; others visited the homes of government officials, confiscating possessions and vehicles.

In areas of the country seized by the Taliban weeks ago, fearful civil servants have been threatened with punishment for not returning to work.

The United Nations has reported instances of local Taliban commanders closing girls schools and prohibiting women from leaving home alone. But in other places there have been reports of local Taliban officials encouraging women to return to work, and trying to get schools for both sexes operating again.

We are cautiously optimistic on moving forward, said Mustapha Ben Messaoud, chief of operations in Kabul for UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Fund.

During the first Taliban regime, girls were barred from most schooling and women were prohibited from working. They were allowed in public only wearing burqas and in the company of male relatives, and risked flogging and even execution for violating the groups rules.

The treatment of women and girls under a resurgent Taliban has been one of the most acute concerns raised by their opponents in Afghanistan and by international rights groups.

There will be no violence against women, no prejudice against woman, Mr. Mujahid said Tuesday. But his assurances were vague. Women, he said, would be allowed to work and study within the bounds of Islamic law.

Similarly, he said the new Taliban needs and wants a free and independent press, which the old Taliban never tolerated as long as it upholds Islamic and national values.

Mujib Mashal reported from Kabul, and Richard Perez-Pea from New York. Carlotta Gall and Ruhallah Khapalwak contributed reporting.

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Taliban Promise Peace, but Doubt and Fear Persist - The New York Times