KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban authorities have weaponized Afghanistan’s legal and regulatory system to suppress media and silence journalists over the past nearly five years, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Monday.
In a statement, the Paris-based media watchdog said the Taliban had issued more than 20 national directives and a long list of provincial decrees since seizing power in August 2021, steadily dismantling the country’s press freedom.
Journalism has come under intensifying pressure, RSF said. Criticism of the Taliban government is banned, political debate has been silenced, the broadcasting of images of living beings is prohibited, and women journalists face especially severe restrictions.
RSF described the period as a five-year deterioration in which controls shifted from administrative and verbal instructions toward an increasingly formal legal framework. That process entered a new phase in January 2026 with the introduction of the Taliban’s Criminal Procedure Regulation of the Courts.
The regulation was drafted without public consultation and only became available to journalists and human rights organizations through leaks, according to RSF. Although it does not explicitly mention the press, the organization said it offers no protections or exceptions for journalistic work.
Article 23 of the regulation gives Taliban judges broad powers to suppress dissenting and critical views, potentially creating a standing legal mechanism that could be used against journalists and commentators, RSF said. Under the code, insulting the Taliban leadership is punishable by flogging and up to six months in prison.
Célia Mercier, RSF’s head of South Asia, said the Taliban had systematically turned Afghanistan into an “information prison.”
“Every new directive further shrinks the space for journalists and independent media. By criminalising media professionals, the de facto authorities are seeking absolute control over the flow of information,” she said. Hundreds of Afghan journalists have been forced to leave the country to escape repression, protect their lives and continue their professional work, she added.
The organization called for the repeal of regulations restricting journalism on the basis of what it described as vague religious, moral or “national interest” provisions.
Freedom of speech was regarded as one of the achievements of the previous Western-backed government and one of the strongest in the region. Those gains have sharply reversed since the Taliban returned to power. Journalists continue to face arrests, censorship, interrogations, threats and pressure linked to their reporting, online activity or affiliations.
More than half of Afghanistan’s media outlets have closed. Many journalists have fled or gone into hiding. Women face even tighter limits, including bans on broadcasting female voices in some provinces.
Press freedom monitors have consistently ranked Afghanistan among the world’s most restrictive environments for journalism. RSF placed the country 175th out of 180 in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, citing severe restrictions on independent reporting and media operations.
