Afghanistan is now considered as one of the worst countries for journalists and free flow of information. The Taliban since their return in 2021, has imposed several restrictions against media independence, freedom of expression and self-censorship.
In the latest move, the Taliban have banned live media coverage and ordered the media outlets to share their analytical and political programs with the Taliban officials before publication and publish them after their approval.
However, the decision has raised the concerns of media and journalists supporting institutions inside and outside Afghanistan. They have emphasized that with such a situation, the activities of the media, which continued for the past three years despite restrictions, for freedom of expression and people’s access to information, have been practically dismantled.
However, some journalists working covertly inside the country say that the Taliban see journalists as spies and want a tougher crackdown and wider restrictions on the media and journalists.
According to them, even the media that have been completely at the service of the Taliban’s propaganda are also suspected by the Taliban.
In an official meeting, the Taliban ordered the owners and top officials of the private media outlets in Kabul that they can no longer broadcast political programs live. According to this order, political programs must be recorded and published after the approval of the Taliban.
According to the sources, the Taliban have warned the domestic media that no media is allowed to broadcast content critical of the group’s policies and laws.
Also, the Organization Supporting Afghan Journalists confirmed this issue and released a statement, saying that Taliban have banned the live broadcasting of political programs in the media in a new move.
Taliban introduced their trusted people as experts in the analytical and political tv programs
The Taliban have introduced their trusted people as experts in the analytical and political programs of the media, according to the statement. It also said that the Taliban destroyed freedom of expression in the country by imposing severe censorship against the media.
“The Taliban hold frequent meetings with media managers in the center and provinces, and in these meetings, the decisions and restrictions of the Taliban are mainly communicated orally,” an Afghan journalist said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he told Harici that in these meetings, the media are instructed on what to publish and what not to publish. “In the latest case, the selection of guests in programs and the recording of political programs that used to be broadcast live and its publication after the approval of the Taliban, is another blow to freedom of expression,” he added.
Meanwhile, a female journalist said access to information has become very difficult for journalists, especially female journalists, and said that it is challenging to be a journalist.
She said that female reporters cannot work independently on any subject because they do not have access to information and it is difficult for them to obtain the necessary information to prepare reports and news.
Taliban called the critics as destructive tool, considered them “rebellious”
In the current situation, local journalists across provinces can only cover topics that are compatible with the spirit and accepted by the Taliban.
According to him, the Taliban have repeatedly warned that they will not accept journalists from media operating from outside the country. “Being a journalist under the rule of the Taliban is considered a crime and this group considers journalists as spies,” she said, wishing anonymity due to security reasons.
She added that if the Taliban find out that a local journalist is cooperating with the media in exile, the journalist’s life will lead to prison or death.
These concerns are raised while Taliban officials have previously prohibited criticizing and asking questions about the activities of this group and even considered the critic to be killed.
Taliban’s head of ministry of higher education, Mohammad Nadeem had recently said that the critics should stop and called them a destructive toll and should be killed. Those who destroy the Taliban regime with their tongue or pen are “rebellious and liable to be killed”, he added.
In the latest move, the Taliban’s Prime Minister’s Office has issued a declaration to further suppress freedom of expression and ban critical thinking, which has led to stricter control over the public intellectual and religious space in the country.
In this statement, the Taliban have prevented “controversial and contentious discussions and debates” and have emphasized that debates and discussions through the media should be avoided.
This is despite the fact that banning discussions and debates, instead of providing a logical solution to prevent conflict, will lead to the elimination of diversity and the continuation of stagnation and intellectual stagnation in the society.
Reporters Sans Frontier said that Taliban targeted journalists on a wider scale and multiplied the number of pretrial detentions.
According to the report on freedom of expression in the world in 2024, the situation of freedom of expression in Afghanistan has reached a state of crisis and Afghanistan has become one of the worst countries in this field. The Global Expression organization has announced that Afghanistan is in 155th place among 161 countries. The findings of this organization show that in the last five years, from 2018 to 2023, Afghanistan has fallen 47 places in the ranking of freedom of expression.
Reporters Without Borders has also announced that the Taliban have arrested 141 journalists in the last three years. According to this organization, the Taliban have targeted journalists on a wider scale and have multiplied the number of pre-trial detentions. Reporters Without Borders added that the Taliban treat journalists like criminals and imprison them under various pretexts.
In the past three years, the Taliban have imposed many restrictions against journalists, especially female journalists. According to the orders of the Taliban, women are prohibited from appearing in television shows and hosting programs without covering their faces. Also, the Taliban have banned women’s voices in the media in many provinces and ordered local radio stations not to broadcast women’s voices.
The Afghan Journalists Association has previously said that the Taliban have issued 17 media directives against the media law in the past three years, which include a wide range of media-related issues.
According to this organization, banning the coverage of civil protests, banning women from working on national radio and television, banning the music, covering women’s faces, banning women from appearing in plays, separating the positions of women and men in the media, banning women from interviewing men, and the media refraining from speaking, are the main opponents and critics of the Taliban.
