Clubhouse removes personal info from Afghan users’ accounts

The online platform reset tens of thousands of its users' bios and photos in the Taliban-ruled country.

San Francisco: Popular audio chat app Clubhouse has removed some personal information from its users in Afghanistan as a safety measure.

The online platform reset tens of thousands of its users’ bios and photos in the Taliban-ruled country.

It also made their accounts more difficult to discover in search.

A spokesperson for Clubhouse told The Verge the actions didn’t affect the users’ followers, and all of the changes can be reversed if a user prefers.

As the Taliban takes control of Kabul, people across the country are deleting photos from their mobile phones and social media accounts, fearing a backlash from the Taliban.

“Clubhouse has also been reminding its Afghan users that it does allow pseudonyms for human rights or safety purposes,” the report mentioned.

Facebook has also launched a one-click tool for people in Afghanistan to quickly lock down their account, as the Taliban has regained control of the war-torn country.

When their profile is locked, people who aren’t their friends can’t download or share their profile photo or see posts on their timeline, said Facebook’s head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher.

Amid the chaotic situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are facing intense scrutiny for their treatment of Taliban accounts, as they would be asked to grant access to the official accounts to the Taliban.