How the Taliban uses social media to seek legitimacy in the West, sow chaos at home

Social media is seen by some as another weapon employed by the militant group.

It seems like history may be repeating itself -- the Taliban is once again in control of Afghanistan after 20 years of the War on Terror there. The development is alarming and dismaying, despite (widely dismissed) assurances from the group -- decried by the U.S. State Department as having "had one of the worst human rights records in the world" and giving safe harbor to al Qaeda -- that they have changed. One thing that is different since the last time the group was in power is its widespread adoption of social media and the power that having a largely unregulated propaganda platform brings. The Taliban now has the ability to communicate directly with the rest of the world, as well as to control the narrative around events as it has been trying to do for years at home and abroad through a barrage of messages on social media. Experts say it effectively did an end around the Afghan government through its unrelenting publicity campaign, capitalizing on disinformation and a lack of media literacy.