PUBG: Battlegrounds will be banned for the next three months for “promoting violence” (which sounds very strange for a militant Taliban group), as well as “misleading youth.”
The Taliban returned to power last August after the collapse of the US-backed government and the withdrawal of US troops. The group promised a “softer approach to government” but has since done nothing but restrict rights, especially for women.
Since then, there have been repeated bans on certain films, TV series and channels, as well as listening to music, which the Taliban consider to contain “immoral content”.
In April 2022, the game PUBG and the social network TikTok were subject to further bans – as they “lead astray” the youth of Afghanistan. At a recent meeting between representatives of the Ministry of Communications of Afghanistan, sharia law enforcement and security officials, a decision was made to impose a ban on the use of PUBG for 90 days, and TikTok for 30. Mobile and Internet service providers were ordered to enforce restrictions on access to applications. The PUBG ban, first of all, concerned its mobile version.
TikTok and PUBG have become increasingly popular in Afghanistan recently as the Taliban continued to actively block other forms of entertainment. According to data provided by TikTok, the app has over 300,000 registered users from Afghanistan. About 67% of the audience are people aged 25 to 34. The main part of users from Afghanistan are men (about 96%).
Also, around 100,000 concurrent players logged into PUBG at the beginning of the year, leading to a “moral panic” in the country – the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs said the game was bad for mental health and warned it could lead to violence.
Afghanistan is not the only country that has banned PUBG and TikTok. They also made the list with 200 apps that India banned in 2020 due to their connection to China. At the time, the local government said the apps were “engaged in activities that are detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, the security of the state and public order.” Pakistan has banned PUBG due to its over-addiction and bad influence on children, and a special “lite” version of the online game called Game for Peace has been developed for Chinese fans.
Source: techspot
