KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) recorded 181 cases of media and journalist rights violations in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in 2024, including the closure of 18 media outlets and the detention of 50 journalists.
The AFJC’s annual report, released on Thursday, December 26, highlights an intensified media crackdown in Afghanistan this year, with rights violations rising by 8% compared to the previous year.
The media watchdog documented 131 instances of threats and 50 detention of journalists in 2024, with five of those detained still serving prison sentences ranging from two to five years.
A positive development in 2024, the AFJC noted, was the absence of targeted attacks on media outlets or deaths of journalists and media workers. Last year, the watchdog recorded the killing of at least one journalist and the injury of 19 others.
According to the report, in 2024, at least 18 media outlets were forced to shut down in Afghanistan, with 14 still not allowed to reopen.
The AFJC report indicates that the Taliban authorities issued at least seven new directives concerning the media in 2024, up from four the previous year.
The new directives include the prohibition of phone contact between women/girls and media outlets in certain provinces, a ban on broadcasting images of living beings, restrictions on filming and conducting video interviews with local Taliban authorities in certain provinces, limitations on live political debates, and a ban on content critical of Taliban policies. They also require media outlets to invite only Taliban-approved guests and mandate the use of terms like “martyr” and “martyrdom” when reporting the deaths of Taliban members.
The watchdog’s findings show that journalists and media workers who ignored the Taliban’s directives faced threats or imprisonment, while media outlets that disregarded these rules faced punitive measures, including temporary or permanent suspension.
The report highlights a division within the Taliban authorities over their approach to media outlets and journalists. It notes that the Ministry of Information and Culture, responsible for overseeing media and journalist affairs, has been sidelined by more powerful entities such as the General Directorate of Intelligence and the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. According to the AFJC’s report, these two entities are responsible for directly or indirectly suppressing journalists and media across Afghanistan in 2024.
Media organizations in Afghanistan have experienced unprecedented censorship and repression during more than three years of Taliban rule. The regime has issued at least 22 directives, significantly curtailing press freedom and access to information in the country.
The Taliban has also arrested, tortured, and in some cases, killed dozens of journalists and media workers throughout the country.
The regime’s media crackdown has resulted in the closure of more than half of the country’s media outlets, including state-run television stations. The Afghanistan Journalists’ Support Organization (AJSO), an Afghan watchdog, reported in March that only 13 of 91 print newspapers, 68 of 248 TV channels, and 211 of 438 radio stations are still operating in the country. AJSO added that the rest have either shut down or moved abroad.
