KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban have announced that they have launched a new website named “Permukhtag” to provide information about the activities of the group.
The website was inaugurated today (Sunday, April 19) in the presence of Taliban officials at the Arg.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of the Taliban, said that this website has been created “to provide accurate access for media and comprehensive information about the achievements and progress of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban).”
He described the website as a “bank and source of information” and said that with its launch, “enemy propaganda will be prevented and the achievements of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) can be calculated on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.”
This comes at a time when, after regaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed widespread restrictions on media activities and journalists, repeatedly raiding media offices, closing these offices, and arresting journalists and media workers.
The Taliban have also “filtered” the websites of free and independent Afghan media, including the newspaper Etilaatroz, KabulNow and have tried to limit public access to these media outlets.
Previously, the Afghanistan Journalists Centre reported that it had documented 207 cases of violations of media freedom and violence against journalists during the 1404 solar year (2025).
The organization stated in its annual report on the “state of media freedom in Afghanistan,” released on National Journalist Day, that these incidents included the killing of two journalists, the injury of one journalist, 183 cases of threats against journalists and media outlets, and 21 arrests of journalists and media workers.
It further noted that since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, nearly 800 cases of media rights violations had been recorded, including killings, detentions, and threats, and at least 21 media outlets had been shut down or suspended over the past year, reflecting increasing pressure on independent media.
Freedom of the press was once considered a key achievement under the former Western-backed government. However, since returning to power, the Taliban have imposed wide-ranging restrictions on media activities, repeatedly detaining journalists and shutting down outlets.
The group has also banned the publication of images of living beings under its “vice and virtue” law. As a result, visual media in more than 20 provinces have either ceased operations or converted into radio outlets.
Human Rights Watch called on international actors to hold the Taliban accountable for human rights abuses and to ensure protection for Afghanistan’s minority communities, journalists, and activists.
Afghanistan now ranks 175th out of 180 countries on the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, just above Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Eritrea. Over half of the country’s media outlets have closed. Many journalists have fled or gone into hiding. Women face even tighter restrictions, including a ban on broadcasting female voices in some provinces.
The launch of such platforms highlights the growing use of digital tools for official communication, while concerns remain about media freedom, access to independent information, and the broader environment for journalism in Afghanistan.
