Taliban App Quickly Removed From Google Play Store

The Taliban’s new Android app “Alemarah” was removed from the Google Play store shortly after it launched.

The Afghan militant group intended to post official statements and videos on the Pashto-language app, which was designed as “part of [the Taliban’s] advanced technological efforts to make more global audience,” a spokesman told Bloomberg.

The spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, said the Taliban had removed the app on Saturday to fix technical issues, but the BBC reports it was removed for violating a Google policy that bans hate speech from its apps.

Google has not directly commented on the app, but released a general statement: “Our policies are designed to provide a great experience for users and developers,” the company said, according to BBC. “That’s why we remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies.”

[BBC]