Twitter wins huge identify backer towards Threads – however it’s the Taliban

Twitter has received the assist of an enormous identify backer towards fast-growing rival Threads – however it’s the Taliban.

A pacesetter of the hardline Islamist group, which seized power in Afghanistan in summer 2021, mentioned Elon Musk‘s platform was a tolerant place that allowed freedom of speech to thrive.

Anas Haqqani supplied his endorsement in a tweet on Monday, because it emerged that Meta’s new Twitter-like platform had amassed greater than 100 million customers in lower than per week.

Its recognition and brazen similarity to Twitter has irked Musk, who’s made his disdain for Mark Zuckerberg clear in a number of tweets since Threads launched and even threatened to sue.

But Haqqani, whose group has banned women from university education, public spaces, and most jobs, mentioned Musk had nothing to fret about.

“Other platforms cannot replace it,” he mentioned of Twitter, citing its dedication to “freedom of speech” and its “public nature and credibility”.

“Twitter does not have an illiberal coverage like Meta,” he added.

Sky News contacted Twitter for remark, however solely obtained a customary poop emoji in return.

Read extra:
Taliban ‘want to destroy’ rights of women and girls

The Taliban on Twitter

Haqqani, who defended the Taliban’s regressive position on women’s and girls’ rights in a Sky News interview last year, is certainly one of quite a few leaders from the regime with a Twitter account.

The Taliban had a presence on Twitter earlier than Musk purchased the corporate final October. The group is banned from rival platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Earlier this yr, it emerged Taliban figures had turn into verified on Twitter after signing up for the Twitter Blue subscription service, which grants customers with a checkmark beforehand reserved for public figures like athletes, politicians, celebrities, and a few journalists.

The Taliban’s ticks had been eliminated after backlash.

Read extra:
Why Threads could be the Twitter-like that catches on

Threads’s quick begin

Musk’s stance on verification and moderation are among the many causes some customers have sought to go away Twitter.

But no rivals have threatened its place because the go-to social media platform for real-time textual content updates like Threads, which rapidly dwarfed the consumer base of different Twitter-likes equivalent to Bluesky and Mastodon and will quickly meet up with Twitter’s estimated inhabitants of 360-400 million.

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Its aggressively-timed launch got here simply days after Musk introduced temporary reading limits on Twitter, however with greater limits for individuals who paid for Twitter Blue.

Musk and Zuckerberg’s verbal sparring through their respective apps may finish with the pair having an precise battle, with each billionaires having urged they want a cage match.