KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An apparently errant tweet by the Taliban’s spokesman in Afghanistan gave his location as being in neighboring Pakistan.
On Friday, a tweet by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claiming an attack included geolocation information that suggested he sent the message from Sindh, Pakistan.
Mujahid later sent a tweet Saturday describing the location leak as an “enemy plot.” He also offered his Afghan telephone number to confirm his identity and wrote: “With full confidence, I can say that I am in my own country.”
Twitter says such geolocation data is based on latitude and longitude data or other information provided by users at the time of their message.
In an explanation of geolocation, Twitter itself warns: “Remember, once you post something online, it’s out there for others to see.”
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Isn’t that special? Thanks, AP.
I really, really don’t understand how these intertubes and social media work. #ImARepublican
Not that this guy isn’t a moron, but the Taliban have less reason to acknowledge or care about the Pakistan-Afghanistan border than anyone else on the planet. There are the places where they’re the bosses, and the places where they aren’t, and that bears only a passing resemblance to the lines drawn on maps.
Somewhere in Sindh, Pakistan, a Taliban intern is about to be blamed.
jw1
“If anyone was inadvertently offended by my Tweet (which may or may not have been taken out of context), I am sorry.”