“The Taliban have some unlikely cheerleaders: the far right in Europe and the United States. White supremacists, QAnon followers and others in extremist online communities praised the group for their overthrowing of liberal values in the days following their victory across Afghanistan, according to a review of encrypted Telegram channels, online message boards and posts within more mainstream social networks like Twitter by Digital Bridge, POLITICO’s transatlantic newsletter. While far-right groups have typically railed against the Islamification of the West, they were quick to piggyback on the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan to promote their own anti-LGBTQ+, anti-women and anti-liberal agenda – one that shares many tenets with that of Afghan militants.”

“On Twitter, supporters of the Capitol Hill riots in Washington posted pictures of American rioters next to images of Taliban fighters inside the presidential palace in Kabul. On Telegram, white supremacists openly debated if the Taliban should be considered good guys because of their homophobic views. On 4Chan, a message board frequented by the far right, the Taliban’s military success was promoted as evidence that Western governments would similarly soon be toppled. ‘The extreme far right-Taliban nexus is particularly worrying and probably surprising to many,’ said Adam Hadley, director of Tech Against Terrorism, a nonprofit combating extremist content online. ‘I suppose it makes sense given their share bigotry'” – Politico EU.