A generation of young Afghans has conquered social media and the internet over the last decade. Now they, too, are fleeing the "digitally armed" Taliban.
Many young and female Afghan social media influencers are now seeking exileImage: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
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They pose in ball gowns in front of ancient columns, publish photos with pop stars and advertise their products in English on social media: Afghanistan too has a lively scene of influencers who drive fads and fashions online.
Young women are especially active. But they have only been able to participate in public life — and get an education — since Taliban militants were ejected from power following the NATO military intervention of 2001.
Afghan pop singers, fashion designers and beauty bloggers have since gained a large following on social media.
One is a fashion designer with around 750,000 dedicated followers on her social media channels. Since she couldn't find the fashion she liked to wear herself in Afghanistan, she started designing and selling her own clothes and accessories. Now a fashion icon on Instagram, she poses in silk dresses or knitted sweaters and jeans — sometimes with and sometimes without a headscarf.
She shoots her photos in a restaurant in Kabul, on the riverbank in Dubai or in Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city and home to the reconstructed ancient Citadel that once housed Alexander the Great — a perfect Instagram backdrop.
The images could just as easily be from a restaurant in Berlin, the banks of the Thames in London, or an ancient site in Athens. They also employ uplifting slogans like "you can all do it!" that are synonymous with social media influencers globally.
Afghanistan's ancient heritage in danger
Afghanistan is rich in ancient sites, monasteries and cultural artifacts that testify to its diverse history on the Silk Road between Iran and China.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Statue of Abdul Ali Mazari
According to media reports, the Taliban has blown up the statue of Abdul Ali Mazari, a political leader of the Hazara minority. Mazari was posthumously declared a "martyr for national unity" in 2016. This past February, the Taliban had declared it would respect the country's cultural assets — Afghanistan has many significant historical sites dating back thousands of years.
Two huge Buddha statues once stood in Bamiyan Valley, on one of the ancient trade routes between China and South Asia. Located some 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of Kabul, the valley was a center of Buddhism, which originated in India; several thousand Buddhist monks lived there in the 6th century. The Taliban destroyed the statues in March 2001. This light projection took place in 2014.
Image: Xinhua/imago images
Archaeological excavations near Bamiyan
Bamiyan Valley was home not only to the famous Buddha statues but also to Shahr-e Gholghola and Shahr-e Zuhak, two forts that were strategically located on a mountain, allowing the inhabitants to spot passing caravans from afar. The city of Bamiyan flourished again in recent years, with the many sights leading to a rise in tourism.
Image: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
Buddhist art from Hadda
In the late 1930s, French archaeologists found an abundance of sculptures and paintings at the Hadda Buddhist monastery complex in eastern Afghanistan, not far from the city of Kandahar. Many depictions are of real-life scenes. The Taliban destroyed most of the archaeological sites in the course of the Afghan civil war.
The citadel is one of the largest fortresses in Central Asia and the national symbol of Afghanistan. The sand-colored bulwark and its 18 towers stand tall over the city of Herat, in western Afghanistan. The construction is said to date back to the time of Alexander the Great, or c. 330 BC. It was restored around ten years ago with international aid money — and could now be a target of the Taliban.
Image: Y. Yawar
Mes Aynak
A 1500-year-old Buddhist monastery complex sits on a hill in in Mes Aynak, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Kabul. Destruction has threatened the site for years, and not only by the Taliban. China has an eye on the copper deposits located beneath the temples and workshops. The name Mes Aynak means small copper basin.
Image: Mes Aynak Tal/AP Photo/picture alliance
Minaret of Jam
At 65 meters (213 feet), this is the second-tallest brick minaret in the world. It is thought to have been built on the site of the ancient city of Firozkoh, the capital of the Ghurid dynasty. An inscription on the tower dates its construction to 1174-5 A.D. The place has been looted repeatedly. The Jam minaret has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 2002.
Image: picture-alliance/MAXPPP/Kyodo
Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa Shrine
The mausoleum in the northern Afghan city of Balkh was built a few years after the death of the Sufi scholar Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa, around 1460 A.D. It is also known as the Green Mosque. Starting at the end of the 16th century, six madrasas were added, and the district became a center for religious learning. The building was last restored in 2002 and serves as a cultural monument and mosque.
Image: Hakim Alipoor
Gardens of Babur
Known as Bagh-e Babur, the gardens were built around 1528 A.D. on the orders of the Indian Mughal ruler Babur. They were destroyed during the civil war of the 1990s but later rebuilt by the Aga Khan Foundation and Germany. The complex includes a caravanserai (a roadside inn for travelers), a palace, a historic pavilion, a mosque and Babur's tomb.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/W. Kohsar
Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque
Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque, the Mosque of the King of the Two Swords, is located in downtown Kabul. It was built in the 1920s by King Amanullah Khan, who ruled from 1919-29. He attempted to modernize Afghanistan. His mosque had an unusual design, with multiple levels and facades in the Italian neo-Baroque style.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. gul
Darul Aman Palace
Amanullah Khan also built this palace on the occasion of Afghanistan's independence from British colonial rule in 1919. It is reminiscent of the Reichstag building in Berlin. Twenty-two German engineers helped build it and trained local specialists. During the civil war in the 1990s, the building was demolished by artillery fire. It reopened again in 2019.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/W. Kohsar
National Museum of Afghanistan
The archives and exhibitions of Afghanistan's National Museum in Kabul contain some 80,000 artifacts. "We have great concerns for the safety of our staff and collections," director Mohammad Fahim Rahimi told National Geographic magazine. Back in 2001, the National Museum was looted and partially destroyed by the Taliban.
Image: DW
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The Taliban are also 'digitally armed'
But since the Taliban seized power again across Afghanistan in early August, these influencers face a grave threat.
That's because the militant Islamist group has also long been "digitally armed," Caja Thimm, professor of media studies at the University of Bonn, told DW.
"We all knew how well the Taliban were doing digitally. There, too, you find a young, tech-savvy generation that is shaped by people who have studied abroad or are not necessarily Afghans at all. They use translation software, speak European languages."
"No one should be surprised if the Taliban had a 5G mast in the middle of the desert," added Thimm about the integral role of mobile internet for the militant group who might soon engage in a form of digital persecution known as "transnational repression."
"Social and digital media allow regimes to monitor exiled activists much more effectively, as well as to probe their networks," political scientist Marcus Michaelsen of the Free University of Brussels told DW.
He explains how activists can be paralyzed by internet trolls, or have targeted spyware installed on their devices unbeknownst to them. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda — the list of regimes that engage in cross-border persecution is long.
Influencers under lockdown
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But transnational repression often affects women, with female journalists who have worked in Syria a prime target, said Michaelsen.
"In the case of exiled activists, repression often takes place against the family, which is often still in the country. This is to be expected in Afghanistan as well," he added.
However, the activists themselves can also be affected, as in the case of the Saudi Arabian journalist and blogger Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi embassy in Turkey.
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Fighting transnational repression
According to Michaelsen, one problem is that this cross-border oppression has not yet been clearly named and condemned by liberal democracies, including Germany.
He says it will be important to give activists who have managed to escape the necessary security, including ensuring that they do not have to fear their right to asylum. "The receiving society must provide support for the exiled activists."
Afghan online influencers could soon face repression, even in exileImage: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
Despite the danger, Afghan influencers are currently also getting involved from exile. For the national holiday on August 19, for example, videos were posted of people raising the national flag in Afghanistan, which is read as a protest against the Taliban — not least by the Taliban themselves.
According to Caja Thimm, Instagram has become increasingly political; the hashtag #SaveAfghanistan is being employed by female influencers in particular when drawing attention to the role of women in the protests.
But the danger for anyone opposing the Taliban remains great — whether in Afghanistan or in exile.
Female influencers are deciding to flee
While Afghan female influencers continue to show a lot of courage, Thimm would like to see more restraint and sensitivity among their colleagues in Europe and the United States.
She cites a British female influencer who recently posted a photo in a burqa with green fingernails as a sign of diversity. "Absolutely unbelievable," said Thimm of what she labels "naivety" and "ignorance," something she says that female influencers from Afghanistan could not afford.
That is why the latter are attempting to flee the country in the wake of the Taliban takeover. The fashion designer has already left the country. But even there, she could still be persecuted by the Taliban.
New role models? The rise of the German influencers
With millions of followers on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, here are some of Germany's most successful influencers today.
Image: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance
Bianca 'Bibi' Classen
Bianca Classen a.k.a. "BibisBeautyPalace" has been pretty successful playing the girl-next-door on social media. Her fortune is estimated at around €3 million ($3.6 million). That is her income from her YouTube videos (with almost six million subscribers), Instagram advertising collabs (with almost eight million followers), and her own beauty brand.
Image: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance
Younes Zarou
Younes Zarou is the most successful TikTok star in Germany. He has about 30 million followers on his two accounts. He uploads colorful videos with accompanying DIY videos on the rapidly growing platform. In March 2020, he entertained his followers live on TikTok around the clock for a month.
Image: Bernd Kammerer/dpa/picture alliance
Pamela Reif
Pamela Reif was tried in 2020 on charges of hidden advertising and lost the case. The court declared that advertising must be marked as such on Instagram — even if it is only a gratuitous recommendation. This did not put a dent in the fitness influencer's popularity though, and her videos boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lisa and Lena Mantler started uploading lip-syncing and dance videos when they were 13 years old onto a platform called Musical.ly, which later became TikTok. They were a big hit, but withdrew from the platform in March 2019 due to security concerns — only to return in May 2020, much to the delight of their international fanbase.
Image: Clemens Bilan/Getty Images
Gronkh
Born Erik Range, Gronkh is a veteran of the gaming scene and one of its most successful influencers. He has had a YouTube channel since 2010, and for two years, he had the most subscribers among all German channels. He became known through the "Let's Play" videos, in which he filmed himself playing video games. Gronkh is also successful on the streaming channel Twitch.
Image: Christoph Hardt/Future Image/imago images
Stefanie Giesinger
Fashion, beauty and travel are all topics that go down well with Instagram users — a fact Stefanie Giesinger, who is one of the top German influencers in these areas, is well aware of. Crowned "Germany's Next Topmodel" in 2014, she's only occasionally seen on the catwalk these days. She has also founded her own sustainable fashion label.
Image: Federico Pestellini/PanoramiC/imago images
Rezo
This YouTuber's video, "The destruction of the CDU," which criticizes Angela Merkel's governing party, the CDU, created a stir in Germany in 2019, and was viewed over 18 million times. YouTube said it was the most-viewed video in Germany that year. This shows how relevant YouTubers like Rezo have become. In addition to political videos, Rezo also makes regular entertainment videos.
Image: Privat/dpa/picture alliance
Marie Nasemann
She is one of the most popular influencers who focus on sustainability. Marie Nasemann writes about sustainable fashion in her blog "Fairknall." She is one of the "sense-fluencers" who use their reach to discuss what they consider meaningful, important topics like sustainability, feminism or vegan nutrition.
