NPR: Across Afghanistan, smartphones have become part of a fragile support system. Families use them to consult doctors remotely, arrange transport to distant clinics, send photos of wounds and symptoms, ask relatives for money, document abuse and reach schooling that is no longer available in person to many girls and women. That fragile network is
Amu: The order prohibits civilian and military employees from using smartphones in public offices across the province. The ban also comes amid a wider Taliban effort to tighten control over information. Over the past year, authorities have imposed restrictions on visual media in several provinces and expanded enforcement of regulations issued by the Taliban Ministry
Amu: A new report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has found that 677 Afghan journalists were forced into exile between 2021 and 2025, nearly half of the 1,468 journalists worldwide whom the organization assisted after they fled threats, imprisonment or the risk of death. Scattered across 28 countries, Afghan journalists now represent what RSF describes
8am: Several government employees under Taliban control say the group has imposed a ban on smartphone use across all institutions. They add that the Taliban have warned that anyone defying the order will be referred to the group’s military court and have their smartphones destroyed. Employees say the measure was issued on the verbal order
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi May 25, 2026 Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have closed down three local radio stations in the latest move in an ongoing crackdown that has seen the country’s media landscape decimated since the militant group seized power for a second time in 2021. The radio stations — Tahsin al-Quran, Sanga, and Zama Ziwer
Khaama: Local sources in Bamyan say Taliban authorities shut down the Baran Health Sciences Institute, detained several staff members and sealed the institute for a second time. Sources said one of the institute’s founders, administrative officials and several teachers were detained during the raid earlier this week. Some staff members were later released, but the
Amu: Sweeping cuts to US foreign aid in 2025 severely weakened Afghan media organizations operating in exile, forcing some outlets to scale back reporting networks inside Afghanistan, lay off journalists and cancel programs focused on women and human rights, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch said Taliban have cracked
Afghanistan International: According to the officials, participants at the meeting were informed that, on the orders of Mullah Abdul Ahad Fazli, public access to the internet would be further restricted and residential fibre-optic internet services disconnected. One company official said the move could have serious economic consequences. “If this order is implemented, not only will
Amu: Afghanistan ranked 175th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, maintaining one of the lowest positions globally as press freedoms remain severely restricted under Taliban rule, according to Reporters Without Borders. Within Afghanistan, access to independent information is increasingly restricted, with many people relying on foreign or exile-based media when
8am: Several journalists working under Taliban rule have expressed concern over the intensifying crackdown on the media and the complete restriction of access to information. According to them, no media outlet under Taliban control can publish the existing realities and can only disseminate content that the Taliban permit. They emphasize that journalists in Afghanistan cannot