Taliban's Control Over .af Domain Forces Closure of 'queer.af' Mastodon Instance

The Mastodon platform, 'queer.af,' encountered closure under the Taliban's administration of Afghanistan's ".af" top-level domain, signaling a significant shift following years of dormancy.

This photograph taken on November 7, 2022 shows the logos of social networks Twitter and Mastodon reflected in smartphone screens, in Paris.

Closing Under Taliban's Administration of ".af"

When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, the status of these domains and their associated websites became uncertain. Now, three years later, the situation has taken a decisive turn.

The sudden disappearance of the 'queer.af' Mastodon instance has brought attention to the Taliban's influence over Afghanistan's .af domain extension.

Managed by the Afghan government, The Verge reported that the .af domain came under scrutiny as reports emerged of various .af domains, including 'queer.af,' going offline.

Erin Shepherd, the administrator of 'queer.af' and a prominent ActivityPub developer, revealed plans to shut down the instance in April but was caught off guard by its premature termination.

A message attributed to Afghanistan's Ministry of Communications and IT, which operates under Taliban control, confirmed the suspension of 'queer.af' in the registry.

It stated that the domain would no longer be included in zone file generation, effectively rendering any associated services, including websites and email addresses, defunct shortly.

Established in July 2018, 'queer.af' provided a welcoming social media space for individuals who identify as queer or queer-adjacent.

However, 404 Media reported that the abrupt shutdown highlights the challenges faced by online communities amidst geopolitical changes and government interventions.

Shepherd disclosed that all .af domains obtained via the Gandi domain registrar, including inet.af, had been deactivated. However, a notice on Gandi.net currently states that the registrar has ceased activities related to .af domain names, including registration, renewal, transfer, or restoration.

Records from the Internet Archive indicate that the platform had discontinued new registrations for the .af domain extension as early as October 2020, with renewals disabled by November of the previous year.

Potential Setbacks

Utilizing Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) outside their designated countries can trigger significant repercussions, which became a substantial revenue source, enabling the nation's entry into the United Nations in 2000.

However, there are also potential drawbacks to this practice. For instance, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine petitioned the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to disable the Russia-administered ".ru" extension.

While ICANN rejected the request, domain providers like Namecheap ceased services for customers utilizing the extension, and Reddit blocked links appended with it.

A more prudent approach is to opt for generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as ".com" or ".net," which lack specific associations with countries or organizations. According to Statista, the majority of websites on the internet employ extensions of this nature.