Disir
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On August 28, 2015 the British Library publicly stated that it would not acquire or give access to the digital archive of materials collected by the Taliban Sources Project (TSP). This decision, coming from “one of the world’s greatest research libraries” and “a place of knowledge and inspiration, encouragement and engagement” has been criticized by academics/researchers as “madness” and “completely, completely ridiculous.” But, from a legal perspective, the British Library’s self-censorship is a predictable consequence of the UK’s broad terrorism laws and so if that self-censorship is to be criticized then it is important not to lose sight of the root cause of such decisions — the underlying law. It is only then that progress is likely: the effectiveness of the law can be practically assessed, its content re-appraised and, who knows, lessons may even be learned and applied to future counter-terrorism proposals engaging academic freedom.
I consider the law and the Library’s decision below but, first, a little background. The TSP, “a major initiative to preserve an unprecedented collection of original Taliban print and audio materials,” was launched in February 2012. The materials were acquired by three researchers — Alex Strick van Linschoten, Felix Kuehn, and Anand Gopal — who lived and worked in Afghanistan for a number of years (together “the collectors”). The collection “includes poetry, maps, night letters, press releases, transcripts of radio broadcasts, memoirs, and 10 volumes of Taliban laws and edicts. It also contains full runs of dozens of official Taliban newspapers and magazines published between 1996-2001.” The collectors have said that there are “no recipes for making bombs or anything like that” in it and that “most of [the collection is] pretty innocuous.” They say the collection is important because “t gives you access into [the Taliban’s] world view, allows you to understand what kind of organisation they built and attempted to build. It allows you to look deeper into their world.”
Self-Censorship in Action: The British Library Rejects Taliban Archive
The unintended consequences of laws.
I consider the law and the Library’s decision below but, first, a little background. The TSP, “a major initiative to preserve an unprecedented collection of original Taliban print and audio materials,” was launched in February 2012. The materials were acquired by three researchers — Alex Strick van Linschoten, Felix Kuehn, and Anand Gopal — who lived and worked in Afghanistan for a number of years (together “the collectors”). The collection “includes poetry, maps, night letters, press releases, transcripts of radio broadcasts, memoirs, and 10 volumes of Taliban laws and edicts. It also contains full runs of dozens of official Taliban newspapers and magazines published between 1996-2001.” The collectors have said that there are “no recipes for making bombs or anything like that” in it and that “most of [the collection is] pretty innocuous.” They say the collection is important because “t gives you access into [the Taliban’s] world view, allows you to understand what kind of organisation they built and attempted to build. It allows you to look deeper into their world.”
Self-Censorship in Action: The British Library Rejects Taliban Archive
The unintended consequences of laws.
