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Last updated: Monday, August 24, 2009

Afghans turned to the Twitterverse to share news of Taliban intimidation at the polls and voter turnout in the presidential election, even as the country was just trying to keep electricity running and attacks at bay. The memory of neighboring Iran’s media crackdown during that country’s vote is still fresh here, and orders from the Afghan government on the eve of the election to censor reports of violence during Thursday’s voting suggested news on the ground could be thin. While far smaller than the response after the Iran vote, the online activity in Afghanistan was an amazing contrast to the last presidential election in 2004, when the country was only a few years removed from Taliban rule that banned many types of technology, including TV and the Internet. Afghans now have cell phones even in remote areas. Those without computers or electricity at home go to Internet cafes to check their e-mail. And as elsewhere, Twitter is a relatively new phenomenon in Afghanistan. “A lot of people are watching from abroad what’s going on and it’s an easy way to get in touch with a lot of people without writing a blog post or sending it through a news desk,” said Alex Strick van Linschoten, a Dutch researcher in the southern city of Kandahar who spent the day visiting polling stations and sending updates to Twitter. Some of his posts: “Explosion just now in Kandahar City (sounded like IED)” and “‘for $1000 i have to get 1000 votes.’ conversation overheard in Kandahar..” Many of the most prolific Twitter posts were not from foreigners but Afghans either here or abroad, trying to keep the world abreast of the news and rumors. Pahjwok Afghan News, an independent Afghan news agency, started posting about attacks in Kandahar well before polls opened. In nearly minute-by-minute posts throughout the day, the agency…

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Afghans Turn to the Twitterverse for Election

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