Afghanistan: When Religious Zealots Win, Porn Just Goes Underground

Afghanistan: When Religious Zealots Win, Porn Just Goes Underground

KABUL, Afghanistan — A new report by MIT’s prestigious Technology Review shows how sexual expression and adult content continue to exist as an underground phenomenon when religious zealots impose their views on the general population.

Much like religious groups in the United States, the Taliban has condemned all sexual expression and adult material online. Whenever it has seized power, it has also effected laws and regulations to achieve its goal of eradicating such material.

The in-depth Technology Review report by Ruchi Kumar explained that “less than 20 years after former president Hamid Karzai made Afghanistan’s first mobile phone call, there are nearly 23 million mobile phone users in a country of fewer than 39 million people. But internet access is a different matter: by early 2021, there were fewer than 9 million internet users, a lag that has been largely attributed to widespread physical security problems, high costs, and a lack of infrastructural development across the country’s mountainous terrain.”

That gap is bridged in Afghanistan by men known as “computer kars,” described by Kumar as “someone who sells digital content by hand in a country where a steady internet connection can be hard to come by.”

“I sell pretty much everything, from movies, music, mobile applications, to iOS updates. I also help create Apple IDs and social media accounts, and with backing up phones and recovering data,” a 21-year-old kar told the reporter. “I can also unlock [stolen] phones and provide other naughty videos.”

An Informal Union of Offline Content Providers

But as the Taliban finalized its takeover of the central Asian nation in August, the kar had to take precautions.

“He began erasing some of the sensitive data on his computer and moving the rest onto two of his largest hard drives, which he then wrapped in a layer of plastic and buried underground at an undisclosed location,” the reporter explained.

When he felt things were getting tense in his town, the kar told Kumar, “me and other computer kars of Mazar who work together held a secret meeting to decide what to do to protect all our content.”

“Among them, the informal union of computer kars had several hundred terabytes of data collected over several years, and much of it would be considered controversial — even criminal — by the Taliban,” the article recounted.

“We all agreed to not delete, but rather hide the more nefarious content,” the kar said. “We reasoned that in Afghanistan, these regimes come and go frequently, but our business should not be disrupted. People are hiding guns, money, jewelry, and whatnot, so I am not scared of hiding my hard drives.”

“I am a 21st-century boy, and most Taliban are living in the past,” the kar added.

A Mirror for the Western 'War on Porn'

The situation described by the Technology Review article is a preview of what can happen when a religious minority with repressive ideas about sexual expression manages to seize control of the legislative process.

The future desired by religiously motivated and like-minded groups like NCOSE, Exodus Cry, Fight the New Drug and other organizations with an avowed mission to “eradicate all pornography” is already a reality in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. As the article shows, such censorship inevitably results in a network of “bootleggers”  like the computer kars, craftily hiding hard drives and operating a black market of the kind of sexual content and information that the adult public in a free society has already shown they want to be able to access.

To read “Can Afghanistan’s underground ‘sneakernet’ survive the Taliban?” visit MIT’s Technology Review.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Adult Networking Platform SpicyGigs.com Launches

SpicyGigs, a new adult industry networking platform, has officially launched.

Pineapple Support to Host 'Cream Pie Challenge' Fundraiser

Pineapple Support is hosting its Cream Pie Challenge through August to raise funds for mental health services for industry performers.

Kyrgyzstan President Signs Measure Outlawing Internet Porn

President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday signed into law legislation outlawing online adult content in the country.

NC Legislature Overrides Veto of Extreme Anti-Adult Industry Bill

The North Carolina state legislature on Tuesday voted to override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of a bill imposing regulations that industry observers have warned could push adult websites and platforms to ban most creators and content.

Report: VPN Downloads Soar in UK Following Age Verification Deadline

Virtual private network apps, which can be used to circumvent geo-specific age verification requirements, are topping Apple App Store downloads in the U.K. in the wake of new Online Safety Act rules, the BBC is reporting.

Strike 3 Holdings Sues Meta for Pirating Vixen Media Group Content to Train AI

Vixen Media Group owner Strike 3 Holdings filed suit in federal court this week, accusing Facebook parent company Meta of copyright infringement and alleging that Meta has extensively pirated VMG content to train its artificial intelligence models.

Pineapple Support, Streamate to Host 'Navigating Grief and Loss' Support Group

Pineapple Support and Streamate are hosting a free online support group to help performers cope with grief and loss.

Friday is Final AV Compliance Deadline in UK

Friday, July 25 marks U.K. media regulator Ofcom’s deadline for user-to-user services such as tube, cam and fan sites to implement its requisite “highly effective age assurance” measures for preventing minors from viewing adult content.

AEBN Publishes Popular Searches for May, June

AEBN has released the top search terms for the months of May and June from its straight and gay theaters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Two Texas Bills Restricting Sex Toy Sales Fail to Pass

Two bills aimed at restricting sales of sex toys have failed to pass the Texas state legislature during its 2025 session.

Show More