Afghanistan Journalists Center: 181 Cases of Media Freedom Violations Recorded in the Third Year of Taliban Rule

The report, released on Tuesday (August 13), details the state of media freedom and journalists in the third year of Taliban governance.

According to the report, the recorded violations include 133 threats and 48 cases of the detention of journalists and media staff, with two of the detained journalists still in Taliban prisons.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center also noted the issuance of three new restrictive orders by the Taliban in the third year of their rule, including the prohibition of "foreign terms," a ban on photographing and filming official and unofficial Taliban meetings in Kandahar, and a ban on phone calls by girls to radio and television stations.

The center stated that the Taliban's stance on media has been inconsistent in the third year of their rule; while some officials have spoken about implementing the previous government's media laws, a "severely conservative traditional and religious attitude towards freedom of expression and free media" remains predominant.

The center further noted that, in addition to legal restrictions, economic problems for media outlets due to reduced commercial advertising, lack of supportive projects, and tax pressures from the Taliban have continued, causing many journalists and media workers to migrate to Western countries, Iran, and Pakistan.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center also mentioned that the Taliban issued 14 restrictive directives against media outlets in the first two years of their rule, including forcing female presenters to wear black masks and banning the broadcast of music and the mention of the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.