The Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has published a report on the state of the media after the rule of the Taliban, saying that this group has created a challenging environment for the activities of the media and journalists are facing increasing challenges.

Over the past three years, UNAMA has documented the human rights violations of 336 journalists and media workers, including 256 cases of arrest and detention, 130 cases of torture and ill-treatment, and 75 cases of threats.

UNAMA has said in a statement that in this report it has documented the increasing challenges that the media and journalists are facing. Journalists and media workers operate under censorship and severe restrictions on access to information, according to the report.

According to UNAMA, female journalists and media workers in particular face more restrictions and discriminatory practices. Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva, the special representative of the UN Secretary General in Afghanistan, said: “For every country, having a free media is not only a choice, but a necessity. Journalists and media workers in Afghanistan work in difficult conditions. They often face unclear rules about what they can and cannot report, and risk intimidation and arbitrary detention for being perceived as critical.”

She asked the Taliban to guarantee the safety and security of all journalists and media workers and to recognize the importance of women’s presence in the media sector. Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the findings of the UNAMA report very worrying and asked the governing authorities to coordinate their actions with Afghanistan’s obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Suspension of media activities in Afghanistan

According to UNAMA, the media sector in Afghanistan had grown significantly during the republic, but after August 15, 2021, a large number of media outlets have stopped their activities.

According to the UNAMA report, before the Taliban took over, there were 543 media outlets with 10,790 employees, but in November 2021, about 43pc of these media outlets ceased to operate and the number of media employees decreased to 4,360.

Meanwhile, 84pc of female media workers have lost their jobs. Currently, it is said that there are no female journalists working in some provinces. The economic problems caused by the cut off of foreign aid and income, the mass migration of journalists and the restrictions of the Taliban are considered to be the factors that stop the activities of the media.

UNAMA has noted that the Taliban have created a challenging environment for the media to operate, including censorship and lack of access to information. In addition, according to the report, journalists under Taliban rule are subjected to intimidation and threats, arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment, prosecution and imprisonment for performing their duties.

Taliban restrictions on the media outlets

UNAMA has said that media activities in Afghanistan are subject to a series of restrictions – among these restrictions is the ban on the publication of music and films in which there is music and women are shown. According to this report, in media offices, men and women should work in separate offices, and male and female presenters should not appear in the same program. Also, female employees must cover their faces. Likewise, in some provinces, women are not allowed to call radio programs, unless the program is about health and religious issues for women.

UNAMA said in its report that media outlets that failed to comply with these restrictions were suspended or forced to cease operations. According to UNAMA, the law of the Taliban has intensified the restrictions on the media. The new restrictions include banning the publication of live photos and videos in the media.

With the implementation of the law of the Taliban, media video broadcasts have been stopped in some provinces, and journalists are not allowed to take pictures of living creatures. The Taliban say that they are implementing this law gradually.

Intervening in the affairs of active media outlets in exile

The UNAMA report states that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, some media have moved their activities abroad. According to UNAMA, these media are operating in violation of the Taliban’s regulations and cannot obtain a license to operate in Afghanistan. These media are permanently exposed to Taliban intervention and suspension.

According to the UNAMA report, journalists who work for active media in exile are working in secret and are more likely to be caught and arrested arbitrarily. The UNAMA report states that the Taliban also intervened in the affairs of foreign journalists working for international media and asked them to first share their subject for review and approval. It has been said that the Taliban have told foreign journalists that the issuance of visas is subject to compliance with the guidelines of the media and respect for the “red lines”.

According to the UNAMA report, the Taliban consider reports focused on restrictions on women and girls, IS attacks, and the presence of armed groups such as al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban to be inappropriate.

The challenge of accessing information

Referring to the challenge of access to information, the UNAMA report states that the limited work environment of the media and the difficulties in accessing information have affected the accuracy of media reports and provided space for the increase of false information.

According to a survey conducted by the National Union of Afghan Journalists in September 2023, only one percent of the total of 433 journalists surveyed rated “good” access to information in Afghanistan. According to UNAMA, access to information is challenging, especially on issues considered sensitive to the Taliban, such as security incidents, protests or access to education and human rights issues.