<figure> <img alt=“Dark blue Mastodon logo on a light blue background, centered with four small, dark blue pieces of the logo spread around it in different orientations in the four corners of the image.” src=“https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VtQEwt1F50G1oJOR8d63z1kxV4I=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73134465/STK140_Mastodon_K_Radtke_02.0.jpeg” /> <figcaption>Image: The Verge</figcaption> </figure>

<p id=“DP5GFf”>Were you aware that the “.af” domain extension is administered by Afghanistan’s government? That’s a truth that the “queer.af” Mastodon instance is now reckoning with as the Taliban, which has controlled the country since 2021, has shut down the domain, according to <a href=“https://www.404media.co/taliban-shuts-down-queer-af-domain-breaking-mastodon-instance/”><em>404 Media</em></a><em>.</em> And it may not be alone, given reports that other .af domains have abruptly gone dark, too.</p> <p id=“je8fJl”>Erin Shepherd, the administrator of the instance and <a href=“https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/”>key ActivityPub developer</a>, told the outlet they were already planning “to shut things down” instead of renewing in April, but that the early termination was a surprise. An email from the Afghanistan Ministry of Communications and IT that <a href=“https://akko.erincandescent.net/notice/AenvYJ0yiHfspKM8uW”>Shepherd posted</a> said that the queer.af domain had been suspended and that websites[…]