Baharan Lahib

Afghanistan — Media institutions and journalists in Afghanistan are facing an escalating wave of restrictions and repressive measures that have limited their ability to work independently, accompanied by a tightening of freedom of expression, repeated arrests, and the closure of a number of media outlets.

In the years that have witnessed deep political and security changes in Afghanistan, the media have become among the most prominent victims of this reality. Increasing pressures, structural restrictions, and the economic crisis have led to an unprecedented tightening of independent media work. At the same time, journalists, along with women and civil society activists, are facing a wave of repression, clearly evident in the rising cases of arrests, disappearances, and killings, in addition to the spread of self-censorship.

Due to the simultaneous oppression and poverty, the situation in Afghanistan has taken on even more dangerous dimensions. Journalists face challenges beyond security threats. On Afghan Journalists' Day, the Journalists' Center reported in its annual report widespread violations of journalists' rights in the country.

It noted that in the past year, 207 cases of press freedom violations and violence against journalists were recorded, including two deaths and one injury. These cases included 183 direct threats, while 21 other cases resulted in the imprisonment of journalists. It affirmed that human rights violations against the media have increased by 20% compared to 2026.

It confirmed that in 18 provinces, the movement has banned live broadcasting, and media outlets have been forced to convert their television programs to radio or shut down completely. According to journalists and media outlets under the Taliban government, many media outlets have turned into propaganda tools for the movement.

According to a 2015 report by Reporters Without Borders, Afghanistan ranked 176th out of 180 countries in terms of the danger of the media environment, noting that three Afghan journalists were killed in the previous year, and 25 cases of arrest or detention of journalists were recorded.

In another report, the United Nations office stated that since taking power, the Taliban has arrested about 250 journalists, affirming that female journalists have faced greater forms of violence compared to their male colleagues.

After coming to power, the Taliban abolished the media law and issued 24 new directives to regulate media work. These directives included strict decisions, most notably: banning women from working in government media, including national radio and television; banning media coverage of demonstrations and civil protests.

In addition to the above decisions, the Taliban imposed wide-ranging restrictions on access to information, news dissemination, and media content production. The head of the Taliban Information Center also announced 11 additional regulations targeting media institutions, including: banning the publication of any material that contradicts the principles of Islam; prohibiting defamation of national figures in any media activity; not violating the privacy of national figures in any media activity; and not violating national privacy or personal privacy in published content.

The issued directives affirmed a set of controls that media and journalists must adhere to, including: not distorting news content or altering its meaning when publishing; adhering to professional journalistic principles in preparing and writing media materials; maintaining balance in media coverage and published materials; handling unconfirmed information or information not verified by official sources with caution; being careful when publishing sensitive issues that negatively affect public opinion or weaken citizens' morale; maintaining neutrality and adhering to publishing facts without bias; and enhancing cooperation between media outlets and the government media center, which has pledged to provide necessary facilities for media coverage operations.

Since taking power, the Taliban has continued to issue a series of decisions imposing wide-ranging restrictions on the work of media and journalists in various Afghan provinces. These measures included providing media institutions with a mandatory template for report preparation, along with imposing new instructions requiring journalists and media outlets to refer to the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.

The movement also announced a ban on publishing music in the media and issued a decision prohibiting the appearance of women in television series, in addition to banning the broadcast of films and series, and obliging women working in media to cover their faces.

The accompanying regulations included: banning the screening of films that violate Islamic and Afghan cultural values; prohibiting the broadcast of local and foreign films deemed harmful to morals and social standards; banning entertainment programs or those considered offensive to public figures; avoiding content that violates religious standards or human dignity; refraining from publishing any material showing male genitalia; obliging women to wear Islamic hijab when appearing on screen; banning the broadcast of programs in which women participate; and banning the broadcast of series in which actors play the roles of prophets or companions.

Continuing its repressive policies, the Taliban issued an order for media to refrain from criticizing the performance of its officials. The movement also imposed a ban on photography and video interviews with local officials and residents in Kandahar province and then in Helmand province.

The movement banned the broadcast of international television programs inside Afghanistan, imposed restrictions preventing the publication of commercial advertisements of a political, security, or social nature, banned any cooperation between local media and exiled media, and imposed a ban on broadcasting women's voices in the media in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

Among its decisions, the movement also obliged media to refrain from using foreign terms, banned the filming of official meetings in Kandahar, and women in Khost province were banned from making phone calls to the media. At the same time, the Taliban announced the application of the "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" law, which included a prohibition on publishing live images, along with other decisions including: banning the broadcast of political and economic programs and live dialogues; prohibiting criticism of the laws and policies of the ruling administration; banning the hosting of experts whom the authorities consider "untrustworthy."

The movement issued new regulations for media, stipulating: recording discussions instead of broadcasting them live; inviting experts only from the approved list; obtaining official permission to host people outside the list; pre-approval of programs before implementation; banning criticism of the system; removing sensitive parts after publication; holding all program participants responsible if a violation occurs; and obliging institutions to correct media errors.

The Taliban also imposed a condition requiring that killed officials be referred to as "martyrs" and obliged media to use the official titles of movement leaders, while banning the publication of any reports without official permission.

Although Taliban officials have repeatedly stated that media can work according to the previous government's law, any attempt to apply this law has been met in practice with repression and the arrest of journalists. On Afghan Journalists' Day, one journalist who had been previously arrested and forced to confess was released. However, another journalist was arrested at the same time, and his fate remains unknown.

Published statistics indicate that most journalists working in local media in Afghanistan suffer from severe psychological problems. The main reason behind this situation is the continuous pressure, repression, and threats from Taliban-affiliated institutions.

As a result, these statistics and restrictions show that the media environment in Afghanistan has become highly restricted, monitored, and dangerous in recent years. Journalists face not only security threats but also economic and psychological pressures—a situation that, if it continues, may completely silence the voice of independent media in the country.