How Google, WhatsApp are helping Afghans ‘escape’ the country – Times of India

NEW DELHI: It has been nothing short of mayhem in Afghanistan in the last few days. With the Taliban seizing control over the country, there has been fear and panic in a large section of the population. So much so that people are desperately looking to flee the country and coming to their aid are Google and WhatsApp. According to a report by MIT Review, a network of people, which includes journalists, government officials and non-profit organisations have been organising lists of Afghans online who may be eligible for resettlement programs move beyond the slow, government process.
What some of the groups are doing is that they are looking to crowdsource information on road conditions. They are working at identifying and helping Afghans come to Kabul from different provinces. Some are also looking to charter planes for airlifts. And here’s where Google Forms comes in. “If you have someone in Kabul that can get to the airport by the end of the week, please input the information here to share with air evac company and the State Department,” reads one of the Google Forms circulating online.
Google Forms are mostly easy to share and has a dedicated set of questions that people have to answer. In the Forms, details of Afghans that are required include contact information, ID cards, resettlement details, passport numbers among others.
Similar details are being shared on WhatsApp, which is also being used to share documents, personal information as it’s faster to share information over the messaging app. The report also says that some of this is being done by the US Department of State, which is also urging people not to use emails for sharing such information.
While the likes of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube have been taking steps in combating the issue, tackling the Taliban takeover will be a huge challenge. Chances of social media being used for the wrong reasons remain high it’s up to the big social media firms to deal with the challenge effectively and efficiently. But clearly, social media is also being used to help Afghans in times of distress and need.