KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) have called on the Taliban to lift a newly imposed ban on broadcasting political and economic discussions on local television.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture recently issued an order banning the production and broadcast of discussions relating to political and economic issues on local TV.
According to the AFJC, officials from the ministry verbally warned representatives of private and independent TV stations during a meeting on Wednesday, instructing them to avoid broadcasting political and economic content. Stations were reportedly told they could only consult with Taliban spokespersons if necessary.
Following the new restriction, media watchdogs, including CPJ and AFJC, have urged Taliban authorities to reverse the ban and allow media outlets to operate freely.
“The Taliban must allow Afghan media to operate independently,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi in a statement on Friday. “This latest move to censor discussion, reporting, and debate of political and economic issues is yet another repressive measure that indicates the extreme measures the Taliban are taking to totally dismantle Afghanistan’s independent media,” she added.
The AFJC also condemned the measure, calling it part of a wider effort to suppress free media and silence critical voices.
“AFJC urges the Taliban authorities to uphold the fundamental right to freedom of expression, which is not only a legal obligation but also a principle respected within the context of the Islamic teachings,” the watchdog said.
Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, the group has issued at least 23 media directives, significantly curtailing press freedom in the country.
The latest regulations, issued in September 2024, included an eight-point order that restricted live programming and required TV stations to only feature experts approved by the Taliban regime.
The ongoing media crackdown has resulted in the closure of more than half of Afghanistan’s media outlets, including television and radio stations. Many journalists have fled the country or gone into hiding to avoid persecution. Female journalists face additional restrictions, including gender-based segregation in workplaces and bans on broadcasting women’s voices in certain provinces.
