In a concerning development for press freedom, Reporters Without Borders reported that the Taliban has escalated its crackdown on media, shutting down at least 12 media outlets in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2024. This includes both public and private entities, with Arezo TV in Kabul being the latest casualty, closed on December 4th. The move, seen as an effort to suppress dissenting voices, adds to growing apprehensions about the future of media operations under the current regime.
The closures are part of a broader Taliban strategy targeting what it describes as “transgressive” content, encompassing music, works of fiction, and commentaries on Taliban politics or broadcasts that diverge from their interpretation of Islamic tenets. As a result, the Taliban has not only ordered the shutdown of 11 television stations and one radio station but also imposed strict content regulations on others that narrowly avoided closure.
Significantly, the crackdown has led to the detention of multiple media personnel. Currently, seven members of Arezo TV, including bureau chief Amanullah Azimi, are held in Kabul’s notorious Pul-e-Charkhi prison. The detentions prompted an urgent reaction from Reporters Without Borders, urging the Taliban to release the journalists and criticizing the closures for stifling the country’s fragile media freedom.
The raid on Arezo TV was conducted by the General Intelligence Directorate and the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, resulting in the confiscation of equipment such as mobile phones and hard drives. The channel faced accusations for disseminating programs linked to Afghan media in exile and presenting soap operas considered challenging to religious norms.
Célia Mercier, head of the South Asia Desk at RSF, voiced deep concerns over these developments, attributing the repression to an ideological shift within the Taliban. Mercier highlights the urgent necessity for reinstating press freedoms and allowing media outlets to operate independent of fear and intervention.
Additionally, the prevailing climate is exacerbated by a recent law on the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, prohibiting the depiction of living beings in media, resulting in widespread suspension of broadcasts across provinces like Kandahar and Helmand. Moreover, radio stations in regions such as Khost confronted temporary closures under the Taliban’s strictures against music and female voices. Notably, previous incidents include the closing of Noor TV and Barya TV, connected to political figures, in April 2024 as documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, at least 141 journalists have been detained, and over 25 arrests have occurred in 2024 alone as recorded by Reporters Without Borders. During the Taliban’s earlier rule from 1996 to 2001, television was banned entirely, a policy not re-enforced post their takeover of the Western-backed government. The current wave of repression underscores the severe challenges facing Afghanistan’s media under the Taliban’s authority.