The Kabul Tribune (KT)— The Taliban have increasingly formalized restrictions on Afghanistan’s media over the past five years, using laws, directives and administrative orders to control journalism and suppress critical reporting, Reporters Without Borders said in a new report.
The Paris-based press freedom organization said the Taliban
have issued more than 20 nationwide directives, in addition to provincial
orders, restricting a broad range of media activities since returning to power
in August 2021.
The measures have targeted criticism of Taliban officials,
political programming, rebroadcasting of international media, women’s
participation and voices in the media, the selection of guests and experts,
images of living beings and even the terminology journalists are required to
use, according to RSF.
The organization said the restrictions initially came
through administrative and verbal instructions but have increasingly been
incorporated into a formal legal framework.
“This five-year progression has transformed a succession of
restrictions into a system designed to control journalism and silence critical
voices,” RSF said.
The organization said the process entered a new phase in
January 2026 with the introduction of the Taliban’s Criminal Procedure
Regulation of the Courts.
According to RSF, the regulation was drafted without public
consultation and does not explicitly mention journalists or the media. However,
it also provides no specific protections or exceptions for legitimate
journalistic work.
RSF said Article 23 gives Taliban judges broad powers that
could be used against dissenting and critical views. The organization warned
that the provision could expose journalists and commentators to punishment for
criticizing officials, communicating with Taliban opponents or reporting on
politically sensitive issues.
Célia Mercier of RSF said the regulation effectively puts
into law restrictions that had accumulated during five years of Taliban rule.
“With its vague definitions of rebellion, subversion and
heresy — and the severe penalties attached to them — the regulation can be a
powerful legal instrument for silencing journalists, commentators and other
perceived critics,” Mercier said.
RSF also warned that journalists could potentially be forced
to provide information about sources or colleagues, threatening the
confidentiality of sources and making independent reporting more difficult.
Restrictions began after Taliban takeover
Some of the first nationwide restrictions on the media were
introduced within weeks of the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
In September 2021, the Taliban government’s media office
under the Ministry of Information and Culture introduced what became known as
the “11 rules of journalism.”
The rules instructed media organizations not to publish
material considered contrary to Islam or insulting to national figures.
Journalists were also told to avoid unverified information and content that the
authorities considered harmful to public opinion or morale.
The rules also called for media organizations to maintain
neutrality, publish factual information and follow journalistic principles.
However, RSF said the directives went beyond general
editorial standards. Detailed reports were to be coordinated with the
government media office, which also prepared a standardized form for
journalists and media organizations.
Later that month, the Taliban issued another directive
instructing some television stations in Kabul not to refer to the authorities
as the “Taliban group.” Instead, broadcasters were told to use the name
“Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
Women face growing restrictions
Women working in the media soon became subject to additional
restrictions.
In November 2021, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion
of Virtue and Prevention of Vice introduced guidelines governing female
television presenters. Women appearing on television were required to cover
their faces except for their eyes, according to RSF.
Restrictions later expanded to women’s voices on radio and
in public information.
The Taliban’s Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention
of Vice, introduced in July 2024, codified a provision stating that a woman’s
voice should not be heard outside her home, according to RSF.
The law also prohibited broadcasting images of living beings
and gave inspectors from the ministry greater authority to monitor published
material and public information.
By March 2025, RSF said restrictions on women’s voices had
also been incorporated into provincial media directives.
In Kandahar, the provincial Directorate of Information and
Culture issued guidelines that prohibited women’s voices on radio and banned
the broadcasting of messages from women in entertainment programs.
International broadcasters restricted
The Taliban also moved to restrict the local rebroadcasting
of international media.
In March 2022, the Ministry of Information and Culture
prohibited Afghan broadcasters from rebroadcasting programs from the
U.S.-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on FM
frequencies.
RSF said the Taliban cited content they considered contrary
to the national interest and concerns about presenters’ clothing.
In July 2022, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a
decree prohibiting what the authorities described as “unproven allegations”
against officials.
RSF said the measure effectively criminalized criticism of
government officials.
Former media law abolished
The legal environment changed further in 2024 when the
Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced that laws enacted under the previous
government had been repealed, including Afghanistan’s 2015 media law.
RSF said the repeal removed a legal framework that had
supported greater media freedom during the previous two decades.
The Taliban said the changes were intended to bring
Afghanistan’s laws into conformity with Sharia.
In July 2024, the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice introduced additional restrictions affecting the media,
including restrictions on women’s voices and the broadcasting of images of
living beings.
Political programs and guests restricted
In September 2024, the Ministry of Information and Culture
introduced further restrictions on broadcasters, according to RSF.
The measures banned live political programs and required
media organizations to obtain approval for guests appearing on their programs.
Broadcasters were allowed to invite specialists from a list
of more than 68 people designated as experts, RSF said. The rules also
prohibited criticism of Taliban laws on air.
By March 2025, provincial directives imposed additional
restrictions.
In Kandahar, journalists were instructed to use specific
terminology when referring to Taliban leaders and authorities. Radio programs
were required to refer to Hibatullah Akhundzada using an honorific title
equivalent to “His Excellency Amir al-Mu’minin, may Allah protect him,” while
the Taliban government was to be called the “Islamic Emirate.”
The guidelines also required journalists traveling within
Kandahar to obtain permits from the provincial Directorate of Information and
Culture.
RSF said journalists in other parts of Afghanistan had
reported that similar permit requirements were being enforced in other
provinces.
The Kandahar directive also instructed journalists and media
organizations to describe Taliban officials killed in attacks or other
circumstances as “martyrs.”
RSF calls for repeal of restrictions
RSF said the restrictions imposed since 2021 have evolved
from controls over editorial content into a broader system governing what
journalists can report, whom they can interview and even the language they can
use.
The organization said the January 2026 Criminal Procedure
Regulation represents the latest and potentially most consequential development
because it could provide courts with a legal mechanism to punish critical
reporting.
RSF called for the repeal of provisions that restrict
journalism on vaguely defined religious, moral or “national interest” grounds
and urged the Taliban authorities to protect journalists and press freedom.
