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CPJ Internet Channel | Afghanistan

Using new Internet filters, Afghanistan blocks news site

By Danny O'Brien with Bob Dietz/CPJ Staff

The news website Benawa has been blocked in Afghanistan. (AP)

Until recently, Afghanistan's Internet has been notably free of government censorship. That stems largely from the limited impact and visibility of the Net domestically: The Taliban banned the Internet during its rule, and despite a recent boom in use, the nation has only a million users out of a population of about 29 million. But the Afghan government finally got around to imposing national filters in June, when the Ministry of Communications instructed local ISPs to blacklist websites that promote alcohol, gambling, and pornography, or ones that provide dating and social networking services.

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