KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based media watchdog, says potential restriction or blockage of Facebook by the Taliban would further impede the free flow of information in and from Afghanistan.
In a statement issued on Monday, April 8, the CPJ emphasized that the Taliban’s plan to restrict or block access to Facebook would be a blow to freedom of information in the country.
The organization’s Asia Program Coordinator, Beh Lih Yi, was quoted in the statement as saying, “Social media platforms, including Facebook, have helped to fill a void left by the decline of the Afghan media industry since the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover and the ensuing crackdown on press freedom.”
“The proposed ban highlights the worsening censorship by the Taliban,” he added.
In an interview with the Kabul-based private media outlet, TOLOnews, on Saturday, April 6, Najibullah Haqqani, the Taliban Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, announced that the group has finalized a plan to restrict or entirely block access to Facebook in Afghanistan.
The Taliban authority justified the decision by citing it as a waste of time and resources, emphasizing that the country’s youth currently need education and should not be distracted by social media platforms.
“Therefore, a policy has been developed for this matter to restrict or block Facebook,” he emphasized.
CPJ says that it reached out to the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, who indicated that while the social media platform will not be completely banned, restrictions will indeed be imposed on it.
The latest development comes amid mounting restrictions on media outlets and freedom of expression in Afghanistan. Social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) persist as the only available spaces for people in the country. Afghan citizens use these platforms to share videos about the Taliban’s atrocities, criticize the Taliban polices, and share information about resistance against the regime.
Additionally, Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms widely used by media outlets to disseminate news and information in Afghanistan.
The Taliban had previously restricted access to foreign news outlets such as Voice of America (VoA), Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL), the British public broadcaster BBC, and the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. However, their Facebook pages remained accessible in the country.
Despite its claim to uphold freedom of the press, the isolated and unrecognized regime in Afghanistan has, in practice, enforced increasing restrictions on media outlets and journalists.
The Taliban’s imposition of media restrictions and pressure on media and journalists has resulted in the closure of over half of the country’s media outlets.
Last month, the Afghanistan Journalists’ Support Organization (AJSO), a German-based Afghan media watchdog, reported that following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, only 13 out of 91 print newspapers remained active. Similarly, out of 248 TV channels, only 68 are still in operation, and out of 438 radio stations, 211 are currently active across 34 provinces of the country.
The remaining media outlets, according to the report, either relocated outside the country or closed due to Taliban restrictions or financial challenges.
