Technologies
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube face content challenges as Afghanistan falls
From fact-checking to labels, social networks are being put to the test yet again.

A CNN reporter stands in front of a photo of a helicopter flying over the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, a city that has fallen into chaos. Underneath the image, a caption states: «Violent but mostly peaceful transfer of power.»
The image, supposedly a screengrab of the network, circulated widely on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, prompting questions about its authenticity. How could the transfer be considered peaceful, some wondered. Was the language meant to be satire?
Turns out the image was fake.
Reuters and Politifact both fact-checked the image and concluded that it, like so many photos before it, had been digitally altered. The doctored image borrowed a screenshot of CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez from a 2020 broadcast of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over a police shooting. At the time, some conservatives criticized CNN for running the caption «Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting.»
Altered images and video, such as a doctored version of a Nancy Pelosi speech that made the House Speaker appear drunk, have plagued Facebook and Twitter for years. Now the problem is resurfacing as news pours out of Afghanistan, which quickly fell into turmoil as the US wound down a 20-year war. Just as before, social media outlets are resorting to labels and warnings to caution users about faked content.
On Sunday, Taliban fighters took over Kabul, the capital, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Violence erupted at the city’s international airport, with videos spreading through social media of people clinging to a US military aircraft as it took off and others falling from another plane midair. The Associated Press, citing US senior military officials, reported that at least seven people died at the airport.
The upheaval in Afghanistan poses a set of familiar challenges to social networks, which monitor their platforms for offensive content including graphic imagery. Some Facebook videos of people falling from planes warned users the content didn’t violate its rules but might include violent or graphic content. Similar videos appeared on Twitter and TikTok without a label.
On Facebook and its photo-sharing service Instagram, the doctored CNN image was labeled as altered. «Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people,» the label said. The fake CNN caption was also used as a title in a YouTube video with different video footage, and the altered image also spread throughout Twitter, which didn’t add a label. YouTube didn’t label the video and said the video didn’t violate its rules.
Instagram boss: ‘The risk will evolve’
Adam Mosseri, who runs Instagram, told Bloomberg Television that the photo-sharing service bans posts promoting the Taliban, which is covered by its dangerous-organization policies because of US government sanctions.
«We are relying on that policy to proactively take down anything that we can that might be dangerous or that is related to the Taliban in general,» Mosseri said. «Now this situation is evolving rapidly, and with it I’m sure the risk will evolve as well. We are going to have to modify what we do and how we do it to respond to those changing risks as they happen.»
A Facebook spokesman said the company has a dedicated team, «including Afghan nationals and native Dari and Pashto speakers,» to assess the situation in real time.
«Our teams continue to monitor the situation on the ground in Afghanistan, in consultation with our partners, and will take action on any content that violates these policies,» the spokesman said in a statement. Facebook’s online rules prohibit glorifying violence or celebrating the suffering of others but note that it will include a warning screen for some gory content.
Facebook also noted that it bars the Taliban from its services because they’re «sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law.» The social media giant owns messaging app WhatsApp and reportedly blocked a number being used by the Taliban that’s meant to be a hotline for civilians to report violence, looting and other problems, according to The Financial Times.
From April to June, the social network took action on 7 million pieces of content that contained terrorism, according to Facebook’s Community Standards Enforcement Report released on Wednesday. Facebook didn’t say how much of that content was Taliban-related. The New York Times reported on Wednesday it found more than 100 new accounts and pages on Facebook and Twitter that claim to belong to the Taliban or expressed support for the group.
On YouTube, some news outlets added their own warnings at the beginning of videos that cautioned users the imagery was graphic. But not all did. YouTube added age restrictions and a label to a video of people falling from a plane that was posted by the Hindustan Times, a big Indian newspaper. The label noted the «video may be inappropriate for some users.»
YouTube’s rules don’t allow violent, graphic or shocking content, though they make exceptions for content that is educational, documentary, artistic or scientific. The company said it also surfaces videos from authoritative sources during breaking news events.
In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said the video-sharing platform would «terminate» accounts it believes are owned and operated by the Taliban because of sanctions and trade compliance laws.
Twitter pointed to its policies against violent organizations and hateful conduct. The company received criticism from some conservatives for allowing Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid to use its platform. Some activists accused the Taliban of «trying to fish for legitimacy» and pushing out information that conflicts with news reports. The company didn’t immediately answer questions about whether the account violated its rules.
The company has been testing a forum called Birdwatch that lets users flag tweets and write notes with more context. Some of the notes included content about Afghanistan.
In one tweet that was rated as both «not misleading» and «potentially misleading,» Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, tweeted that US President Joe Biden «apparently» had «no plans» to speak about Afghanistan. Both of the notes said Rubio tweeted before Biden announced he would be speaking about the topic later on Monday.
Other tweets users rated as misleading note that a video shared by some high-profile conservatives, including US Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, «attempt to frame CNN as proponents of the Taliban and their take-over of Afghanistan.» The video shows CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward reporting that Taliban fighters are «just chanting death to America, but they seem friendly at the same time. It’s utterly bizarre.»
TikTok didn’t immediately respond to questions about how it’s moderating content about Afghanistan.
Richard Nieva contributed to this report.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, June 7
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for June 7.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword could be tricky. 1-Down and 5-Down stumped me for a while, but the other letters filled it in for me. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Yoga class need
Answer: MAT
4A clue: Umlaut, rotated 90°
Answer: COLON
6A clue: «That is shocking!»
Answer: OHMYGOD
8A clue: «___ You the One?» (reality TV show)
Answer: ARE
9A clue: Egg cells
Answer: OVA
10A clue: One of two «royal» sleeping options
Answer: KINGBED
12A clue: Bar seating
Answer: STOOL
13A clue: Favorite team of the «Chicago Pope,» for short
Answer: SOX
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Slices of life
Answer: MOMENTS
2D clue: Olympic gymnast Raisman
Answer: ALY
3D clue: Request at the end of a restaurant meal
Answer: TOGOBOX
4D clue: Hayes of MSNBC
Answer: CHRIS
5D clue: Medium for Melville or McCarthy
Answer: NOVEL
6D clue: Wood used for wine barrels
Answer: OAK
7D clue: June honoree
Answer: DAD
11D clue: Sticky stuff
Answer: GOO
How to play more Mini Crosswords
The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.
Technologies
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Technologies
Square Enix’s Next Game Blends Among Us-Like Murder Mystery With Bloody Carnage
Unveiled at Summer Game Fest, Killer Inn is an upcoming multiplayer murder mystery pitting players against each other in the search for the true killers.

Bet you didn’t have this one on your bingo list. Developed by Tactic Studios in partnership with Square Enix, the game was unveiled during the Summer Game Fest livestream, and it’s far from the famed RPG maker’s bread and butter. Killer Inn, as it’s called, is a multiplayer murder mystery that takes Among Us-like gameplay and ratchets it up by handing players knives, guns and many other weapons to kill or be killed while they search for the original killer.
Killer Inn might be one of those games that is best understood after playing a few matches, but even from the reveal trailer, there’s a lot going on. In each match, 24 players enter a sprawling castle-turned-hotel to determine who the real killers are as they’re picked off one by one. There’s deduction and mayhem aplenty.
Killer Inn’s play phases are patterned after detective-style games, from Among Us to Ultimate Werewolf to Mafia. A match begins with most players as cooperative participants («lambs,» in Killer Inn’s parlance) mixed with a few secret killers («wolves»). Players complete tasks to earn tokens redeemable for items and weapons, while the killers quietly go about their business — until someone discovers a body. On the corpse are clues left by the killer, so the lambs can try deducing the true culprit (or culprits).
Then it’s all about collecting clues and identifying the wolves — but unlike Among Us, there’s no group discussion to present evidence or vote them out. Killer Inn skips the parlor scene and dives straight into action: If you’re sure someone’s the killer, take them out. Use those token-bought guns and blades to put down the villain. Unless you accidentally murder one of your innocent teammates — in which case, you’re turned to stone for the rest of the match. Bummer.
Lambs have another win condition: assembling four keys to escape on the ship that brought them to the murder island. There are other mechanics, too, like finding relative safety in rooms with hotel staff, who will identify any wolves that kill lambs in their line of sight.
Players can choose between 25 premade characters that each have their own unique appearances and abilities, the latter of which improve as the match goes on, often reflecting the nefarious dark sides of the participants. For example, Winston is a surgeon who kills more efficiently with knives and, when leveled up, deals extra damage while covered in blood. The Otaku, by contrast, gains 25 HP from finding clues and eventually builds resistance to status effects. Levels don’t carry over between matches — everyone starts fresh at level one.
Killer Inn doesn’t have a release date, but the game will kick off a closed beta test over Steam in the near future.
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