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The Afghanistan Information Center said one sign of the Taliban’s tightening policy towards the media and freelance journalists over the past 12 months was the constant issuance of new media guidelines.
The center said in its latest report released on Tuesday (August 13) that although Afghanistan’s media law is enforceable only in words, it is not used only in selected cases, including to legitimize the Media Complaints and Violations Committee.
The report said that in the past 12 months, the Taliban has issued at least three new media guidelines, including how to use language and text, a ban on photography and videotaping of formal and informal meetings of local officials in Kandahar, and a ban on girls making phone calls, etc. He has been working at radio and television stations in Khost province.
Hamid Obaidi, head of the Afghan Journalists Support Group, said the past three years have proven that the Taliban is not committed to media freedom:
“The past three years have shown that the Taliban do not believe in the values of freedom of expression and the right to information, which is a civil right, and from time to time impose restrictions that deprive the Afghan people of this right.”
In the third year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, 181 attacks on media and journalists, including arrests and threats, have been recorded.
The Taliban issued at least 14 directives to the media and journalists in the first and second years of their return to Afghanistan and did not refuse to put pressure on them to implement them.
The Afghanistan Information Centre said it had recorded 181 cases of violations of media freedom, including threats and arrests, during the third year of Taliban rule, but had not reported any attacks on journalists and media outlets or deliberate harm to citizen journalists.
The third year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan also comes with new orders and guidelines from Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada for the group’s spokespersons.
The decree, published in the Official Gazette on August 14, a copy of which was provided to Radio Free Afghanistan, states that Taliban spokespersons can only publish statements from the group’s leaders and are not allowed to express their views on Taliban political and social issues. The government’s position on this is unclear and they should refrain from doing so.
Zia Bumia, head of the South Asian Federation of Media Organization (SAFMA), said the new decree imposed restrictions on Taliban spokespersons, adding to restrictions they had previously imposed on journalists and media workers.
“The spokespersons of the ruling government will now appear in the media as per the instructions deemed necessary by the Taliban leadership, otherwise they have no right to make any statement to the media, or to appear. The media’s previous position was that the restrictions It is not clear what the situation of the media will be now, that is, they face more restrictions, ambiguity and uncertainty.
The new decree emphasizes that Taliban spokespersons are obliged to publicize the group’s goals, policies, activities and achievements, and that ministry spokespersons’ activities are limited to those permitted within the scope of their agency’s operations.
Journalists and the Afghan media community have faced repression, restrictions and increasing pressure since the Taliban regained control of the country in August 2021, but Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada’s new decree appears to limit their access to information.
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