Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1406636
OPINION 2.9.2021 Alexiei Dingli Prof Alexiei Dingli is a Professor of AI at the University of Malta and has been conducting research and working in the field of AI for more than two decades, assisting different companies to implement AI solutions. He forms part of the Malta.AI task-force, set up by the Maltese government, aimed at making Malta one of the top AI countries in the world A round thirty years ago, the Soviets le Afghan- istan under the control of a puppet regime which even- tually led the country straight into the jaws of Taliban rule. Today, we're experiencing the same thing. e main difference is that we now have the Amer- icans abandoning the country, and what took the Taliban years to achieve was accomplished in a handful of days. Many are interpreting this hostile takeover as the begin- ning of the end for the coun- try. Women, in particular, are afraid that the Taliban admin- istration will strip away the rights they've acquired in the past years under the pretence of Sharia Law. Others are afraid of the retribution which they might suffer under the hands of the Taliban commanders. Naturally, there is mass hyste- ria in the country, and locals are trying to flee using all pos- sible means. But this invasion will be very different from the first one. e Taliban leaders are already showing some signs of goodwill. One of their first statements claimed that people should continue to live their everyday lives, and women will have access to education. But on the other ground, lo- cals are reporting door-to-door manhunts. Whether this is a ploy to appease the rest of the world and acquire legitimacy or a significant change in direc- tion is still to be seen. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. What's for sure is that the Taliban leaders can- not rule with the same iron fist which they used 30 years ago. One has to keep in mind that telecommunications made gi- ant leaps. In the 90s, the first and second gulf wars were the first two conflicts broadcasted live on TV. People could see the Tomahawk missiles, rain- ing on Bagdad, almost in re- al-time. Since then, all major News channels have started reporting wars with local cor- respondents on the ground. Very few pockets on earth like North Corea managed to elude the indiscreet eye of interna- tional reporters. But Afghani- stan won't probably be such a state! It is clear that the Taleban value international recognition because it brings in financial aid such as the 1.2 billion eu- ros in development assistance budgeted by the EU or the Chi- nese One-Belt One-Road (aka Silk Road 2) initiative. e Afghanistan of today is also very different from the one of 30 years ago. Back then, almost no one had a mobile phone. Today, the majority of the population have an inter- net-enabled smartphone. e people are no longer isolated; they know what's happening around the world, they tasted the western lifestyle, and it will be tough for them to go back to a rigid Taliban rule. Fur- thermore, social media already played a significant role in the country. In these past years, people used online networks to expose cases of corruption or injustice. ey savoured the fact that they could express their voice freely against the state. It is still early to understand whether the Taliban plan to ban the Internet or maybe re- strict it. What's for sure is that such regimes typically suppress any dissenting voices. But the Taliban are different from oth- er regimes. When they were in hiding, a powerful tool at their disposal was the Internet. In- deed, large corporations like Facebook try to forbid Taliban messages from circulating on- line, but sometimes they are overwhelmed. A few days af- ter the Kabul takeover, a Tali- ban spokesman uploaded five videos to his official YouTube page showing senior leaders congratulating fighters and celebrating their victory. Twit- ter immediately got flooded with new pro-Taliban accounts where they shared the five vid- eos and racked more than half a million views in less than 24 hours. So social media is es- sentially a propaganda tool for the regime, and as such, it will be hard for them to con- tain it. Similarly to what hap- pened during the Arab spring a decade ago, local resistance will use Social Media to fight the occupation. From the in- ternational community, we've already seen global celebrities like Angelina Jolie denouncing what was happening on Insta- gram, and this will only keep on intensifying in the coming months. Another significant change is that there were almost no girls in schools during the first Tal- iban rule. In the past decades, millions of women received an education. ousands of whom successfully read for a Universi- ty degree and are today experts in their field. Furthermore, many of them work in gainful employment, thus contributing to the general wellbeing of the country. It will be a national tragedy if these opportunities get stifled. Such policies will create a brain drain within the country whereby female pro- fessionals (and possibly their families) seek employment op- portunities abroad. For those who are left behind, the Inter- net can be a lifesaver. Parents can still educate their children online while also providing them with the opportunity to upskill or even work remotely. What's going to happen is still to be seen. What's for sure is that the Internet can provide the Afghan people with a vir- tual escape from their current oppressors. It can act as a com- munication medium between people to inform the outside world about what's happening there. From our end, we must not forget the people of Af- ghanistan, but we must listen to their pleas, support them in their needs and urge our na- tional governments to act. We have no excuses, and we can accomplish all of this instantly using our technological means! Can technology save Afghanistan? Will the Taliban once again ban girls from attending school?