The Guardian (UK): In the two decades before the Taliban returned to power, Afghanistan had a vibrant media sector. There were newspapers, television channels, periodicals, magazines and more, invigorating the public discourse by allowing citizens to express their views on national and local issues. That is completely gone now. Click here to read more (external
Ayaz Gul VOA News April 17, 2024 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The Taliban government in Afghanistan has suspended the broadcast of two privately run local TV channels over alleged violations of official regulations and “Islamic values.” Free media advocates Wednesday criticized the overnight suspension, calling it a violation of Afghanistan’s media-governing laws. The Taliban-run information ministry’s Media
VOA News April 4, 2024 An exiled Afghan journalist was shot in Pakistan on Wednesday, prompting calls from press freedom groups for the Pakistani government to investigate the incident. Ahmad Hanayesh was shot on Wednesday evening by two gunmen on a motorcycle when he was returning home in the capital Islamabad, according to the press freedom group
8am: The relationship between the Taliban and the media is defined by the interests of this group. During the Taliban’s first emirate, they shut down all visual, audio, and written media outlets, except for one or two Taliban-affiliated outlets like “Voice of Sharia,” to control public opinion. Even those who owned televisions and satellite dishes
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 1, 2024 ISLAMABAD — Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have reportedly warned of barring female journalists and women at large from media platforms unless they comply with a dress code requiring that only their eyes be visible. The Afghanistan Journalists Center, or AFJC, a press freedom organization, said the warning was issued
Khaama: Mansoor Nekmal, the Editor in Chief of Khaama Press, has been detained following a summons to the [Taliban] Ministry of Vice and Virtue, sparking urgent calls for his release and a rallying cry for press freedom in Afghanistan..The detention came after a recent report published by Khaama Press on the hijab issue, which led
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi January 22, 2024 The Taliban has detained another Afghan journalist in the country’s capital, Kabul, in a continuing crackdown on independent media in Afghanistan. Media watchdog the Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC) said Taliban intelligence officers detained Ehsan Akbari, an Afghan reporter for Japan’s Kyodo news agency. “The arrest of this journalist shows
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi December 19, 2023 An Afghan journalist detained by the Taliban’s intelligence service has been released amid increasing concerns over mounting Taliban harassment of Afghan journalists. The Taliban detained Ruhollah Sangar, a correspondent for the independent Tolo TV, on December 17 while he was reporting from Charikar, the capital of the northern Parwan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 13, 2023 Afghan and international media watchdogs have condemned Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers for handing down a one-year sentence to journalist Sultan Ali Jawadi on unspecified charges and called for his immediate release, along with the freeing of another recently detained media member. In a December 12 statement, the Afghanistan
VOA News October 24, 2023 An Afghan-French journalist who spent 284 days imprisoned in Afghanistan has recalled how he was beaten, nearly choked, and interrogated. Speaking at a news conference in the French capital, Paris, on Monday, the newly released Mortaza Behboudi said he didn’t think he would make it out of custody alive. The