Taliban ban domestic political and economic broadcasts in Afghanistan
New York, February 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Taliban to reverse Thursday’s ban on the broadcast of political and economic programs by domestic Afghan outlets. The Ministry of Information and Culture issued a verbal directive to media executives in the capital Kabul on February 13, stating that organizations may only address…
Taliban detains 2 media workers, suspends women-run broadcaster Radio Begum
New York, February 6, 2025—Taliban intelligence agents raided the Kabul station of Radio Begum on Tuesday, February 4, suspended broadcast operations, detained two unidentified media workers, and confiscated documents and essential broadcasting equipment, including computers, hard drives, and mobile devices. The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture accused the outlet of “non-compliance” with regulations and…
Taliban sentences Afghan journalist Sayed Rahim Saeedi to 3 years in prison
New York, January 31, 2025—A Taliban court in Kabul sentenced Sayed Rahim Saeedi, the editor and producer of the ANAR Media YouTube channel, to three years in prison on charges of disseminating anti-Taliban propaganda. He was sentenced on October 27, 2024, but those with knowledge of the case initially refrained from publicizing it out of…
CPJ calls on Pakistani authorities to end harassment, deportation of Afghan journalists
New York, January 22, 2025—Pakistani authorities must stop deporting and harassing Afghan journalists who have fled Afghanistan because of threats to their lives, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. During the first week of January 2025, Pakistani security forces detained two Afghan journalists and their families before deporting them to Afghanistan, according to a…
Taliban sentences Afghan journalist Mahdi Ansary to 18 months in prison
New York, January 17, 2025—A Taliban court in the capital Kabul on January 1 sentenced Afghan News Agency reporter Mahdi Ansary to 18 months in prison on charges of disseminating anti-Taliban propaganda. “Mahdi Ansary’s unjust sentence is indicative of the Taliban’s continued brutality and suppression of press freedom in Afghanistan,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s…
Bypassing the ‘Taliban firewall’: How an exile newsroom reports on Afghan women
Faisal Karimi and Wahab Siddiqi, respectively founder and editor-in-chief of the Afghanistan Women’s News Agency, were among the first journalists to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban retook control of the country in August 2021. After escaping the country undetected with nearly two dozen newsroom colleagues and family members a week after the fall of Kabul,…
Taliban detain 7 Arezo TV journalists, seal network’s offices in Kabul
New York, December 5, 2024—Dozens of Taliban agents from the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) raided the offices of private broadcaster Arezo TV on December 4 in the capital, Kabul, questioned staff members for four hours, and detained seven journalists and media workers. Woman journalists were expelled from the premises, and the network’s offices were…
Taliban bans television broadcasts and public filming and photographing in Takhar province
New York, October 28, 2024—On October 13, the Taliban banned television operations and the filming and photographing of people in public spaces in northeast Takhar province according to a local journalist who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists under the condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal from the Taliban, and media reports. “The Taliban’s latest ban on…
Taliban intelligence agents detain journalists Hekmat Aryan and Mahdi Ansary
New York, October 8, 2024—Taliban authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Hekmat Aryan and Mahdi Ansary, who were detained by General Directorate of Intelligence agents in Afghanistan’s southern Ghazni province and the capital Kabul, respectively, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. “Taliban intelligence must release journalists Mahdi Ansary and Hekmat Aryan immediately and…
Taliban ban live political broadcasts, step up censorship
New York, September 24, 2024—The Taliban must reverse their directive banning live broadcasts of political shows, criticism of the group, and interviews with analysts not on a list of 68 pre-approved names, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On September 21, the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture summoned media executives in the capital…