Foreign travel influencers, including creators from the UK, Poland and Australia, are increasingly visiting Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and posting glowing content about its landscapes, culture and hospitality, despite Western government warnings against travel there. The trend, emerging around the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that triggered the US invasion of Afghanistan, is being encouraged by the Taliban as part of a deliberate effort to rebuild its international image using social media.

The influencers' videos, which show them posing with rifles, visiting mosques and mingling freely with locals, sit in stark contrast to the restrictions faced by Afghan women under Taliban rule, with female creators often shown unveiled or in loose headscarves that ordinary Afghan women are denied. The UK currently advises against all travel to Afghanistan, yet figures such as British influencer Zoe and Australian creators Josie and Chris have shared content praising their experiences, aided by tour operators like Afghanistan on Tour. Afghan scholar Orzala Nemat of the Royal United Services Institute has voiced concern over the trend, while reports from Herat describe women being detained and harassed by morality police for alleged dress code violations.