8am: Leaked documents from the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) show that the group has allocated a budget of more than 70 million Afghanis to advance a broad propaganda and media campaign, using media outlets and fake accounts to portray opposition fronts as weak, sow discord among former political leaders and their supporters, instill
Amu: Reporters Without Borders says the Taliban have “weaponized” Afghanistan’s legal and regulatory system against the press, turning a succession of media restrictions imposed over five years into an increasingly formal framework for controlling journalism and suppressing critical reporting. The organization says more than 20 nationwide directives, alongside provincial orders, have restricted everything from criticism
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
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
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
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
Amu: Taliban have revoked the operating licences of an unspecified number of organizations that support media and journalists, while extending the licences of three others, according to a statement from the Taliban-run Ministry of Information and Culture. The ministry said the decision followed a review of “repeated complaints” of media outlets and journalists against “media
By Mustafa Sarwar and RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi January 17, 2026 Since the withdrawal of international forces and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghanistan’s once-diverse media landscape has collapsed under a lack of funding and restrictions — and Chinese state media is looking to fill the void. Hundreds of outlets have shut down,
Afghanistan International: The Taliban have expanded a ban on publishing and broadcasting images of living beings to 24 provinces across Afghanistan, further tightening restrictions on media and freedom of expression, the Afghanistan Journalists Center said. In a statement issued on Thursday, January 8, the Afghanistan Journalists Center said the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of