The Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) has announced that it has removed Afghanistan’s membership in the coalition, citing the deterioration in the country’s media freedom situation as a core reason behind it.
Canada and Netherlands, which jointly chair the global MFC, said that the situation of Afghan media is no longer in accordance with the country’s obligations and they have annulled its membership.
Afghanistan joined the coalition in January 2020 after fulfilling the Global Pledge, and committed to fulfill its global obligations towards freedom of expression. However, the MFC said the decision to remove Afghanistan from the coalition was made after consultation with the members of the coalition and in accordance with the membership conditions of this association.
MFC said that “for the coalition, it is clear that unfortunately the situation of media freedom in Afghanistan is no longer in accordance with the global commitment (of this country) and the current situation (of media freedom) is one of the serious concerns of (the coalition).”
The coalition also lamented the rapid loss of freedom of media in Afghanistan since last year due to persistent harassment, assaults, detentions, and exclusion of women from the media, putting journalists’ lives in danger every day. But the MFC will continue to keep a careful eye on the state of media freedom in Afghanistan.
A quick change on Afghanistan’s freedom of expression
There has been a quick change in the landscape of freedom of media in Afghanistan after regaining power by the Taliban in 2021. Hundreds of journalists and media workers left the country, and hundreds more became jobless within a night. Several news agencies, including some popular tv channels and newspapers closed due to political and economic pressures.
But it is not the end of the road, because still there are many media outlets active in Afghanistan and are making all out efforts to report impartially with all journalism ethics codes. But at the same time they are scrambling to get first hand news as access to information has been limited. There are also reports coming out over censorship that have made the free flow of information into serious challenges.
Reports of violence against journalists have also hit the peak and as per the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report, there have been over 200 cases of journalist human rights violations recorded in the past over one year.
Over 245 cases of violence against journalists recorded during Taliban’s first year rule
Afghanistan Journalist Center said it acknowledges the concern of the MFC about the situation of freedom of expression in Afghanistan as it had recorded at least 245 incidents of violence against journalists and media workers during the one year of the Taliban rule from 15 August 2021 to 15 August 2022.
The center also recorded at least 130 cases of temporary detention with violence and threats from one to several hours or several days during the span of time. Among the detained journalists, Khalid Qadri, former presenter of Nowruz Radio in Herat province, has been sentenced to one year in prison for publishing his critical views on the Taliban government on social media.
The Taliban has urged to comply with its commitment regarding the applicability of the law of mass media and related laws and regulations (approved by the republican system) and while respecting the free media, it should immediately remove the restrictions imposed on the media outlets and journalists.
Taliban regretted expulsion of Afghanistan from MFC
Reacting to the expulsion of Afghanistan from MFC, the Taliban top official regretted the decision and said that the government is fully committed to support free media in Afghanistan.
Taliban advisor to the Ministry of Information and Culture, Abdul Matin Qani said that the ministry is committed to freedom of expression and fully supports media outlets and access to information in accordance with Islamic and national values.
The Taliban condemns the unilateral decision of the MFC to remove Afghanistan from the global coalition, according to Qani, blaming the MFC for not fully aware of the realities in Afghanistan. “The international community should understand the realities on the ground in Afghanistan and surely they are aware of the fact that Afghan media are operating freely and freedom of expression is there in Afghanistan,” the official said.
While calling the MFC’s decision regrettable, Qani said that the ministry will continue to support the freedom of expression and the media in Afghanistan. The MFC was asked to reconsider its decision.
However, the Taliban has apparently ordered the media not to publish news, reports, and analytical materials in opposition to and against the Taliban regime, ideology, and method of governance. Taliban had already banned broadcasting of foreign movies, TV series, and commercial advertisements that contain images of women. Female journalist’s appearances on the screen had already been restricted and they must wear a hijab during any news bulletin or interviews.
219 media outlets in Afghanistan stopped operations
219 media outlets in Afghanistan have stopped operations in the past one year. Out of 547 active media outlets in Afghanistan till 2021, only 328 media outlets have continued to operate after the Taliban seized power. Other media protecting agencies also said that the activities of 318 media outlets were stopped and nearly three thousand journalists lost their jobs during the past one year.
Indeed, the growth of an independent media in Afghanistan since 2001 was one of the greatest successes and most of these outlets were privately owned. Most of the government’s performance and activities are observed and covered by media and are criticized by media when required and it was effective somehow. But it was not like everything was perfect, and the media sector does not have challenges. Nearly 50 journalists were killed and hundreds of violations against the media have been recorded at that time. Several cases of journalist’s assassination remained uninvestigated, and in most of these incidents the previous government was blamed for.
However, the Taliban, the current ruler of Afghanistan, must let the media workers and journalists carry their jobs because journalism is not a crime but rather it plays a role of bridge connecting people to the government. In fact, the media has been considered as the fourth pillar of the state because it informs the government of situation on the ground.
