Afghanistan: Taliban issues ‘11 rules’ for media organisations

Kabul - Over 150 Afghan news outlets shut down operations in wake of censorship laws

In a bid to further censor and repress the media freedom in Afghanistan, the Taliban have unveiled ‘11 rules’ for scribe organisations.

These curbs include directives against publishing topics that are in conflict with Islam or insulting to national personalities, and also instruct journalists to produce news reports in coordination with the government media office, The New York Times reported.

“Journalists are just frightened,” said Steven Butler, a senior member of America-based press freedom organisation adding that “the organisation had been receiving hundreds of emails from [Afghan] journalists asking for help.”

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Since the collapse of Afghan government, over 150 media outlets in Afghanistan have shut down their operations as they struggled to carry out their day to day functions. This is because the Taliban has been continuously creating intrusion in media’s ‘right to information’, which has hampered the work of media organisations, Tolo News reported.

Some of the most prominent newspapers have been forced to cease print operations and now publish only online, amid the country’s sharp economic downturn, The New York Times reported

Earlier in this month, the Taliban also cracked upon the journalists covering demonstrations against the ‘new government’ formed after ousting the democratically elected government.

Contrary to the promises made by the Taliban of respecting human values, the group continues to violate the basic human rights of media personnel as they are being harassed, tortured, and killed.

There has been a change in the content being shown on private TV channels. Critical news bulletins, political debates, entertainment and music shows, foreign dramas are replaced with programmes tailored to the Taliban government.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also asked the Taliban to immediately cease detaining journalists in Afghanistan and allow the media to operate freely and without fear of reprisal.

Things have changed dramatically since the Taliban began its military advances after the US announced the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan.

Dawa Khan Menapal, the Director of Afghanistan’s Government Information Media Center in Kabul, was killed in the first week of August. Two days later, journalist Toofan Omar of Paktia Ghag Radio was murdered by the Taliban fighters. Soon after Kabul fell, Taliban fighters began looking for journalists - many were tortured while some were killed, reported Al Arabiya Post.

• MENA