Monitoring Desk: Freedom of expression in Afghanistan has collapsed under the Afghan Taliban regime, transforming journalism into a perilous act of resistance rather than a constitutionally protected right. Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, independent media has been systematically dismantled through arrests, intimidation, censorship, and economic strangulation. For Afghan journalists, particularly women, speaking truth is treated as a crime.
The annihilation of freedom of press in Afghanistan is not a domestic tragedy; it is a global test for those who talk about freedom of expression and use the same to bomb several countries in recent past. If the silencing of Afghan journalists continues without accountability, it will signal to authoritarian regimes everywhere that repression can proceed unchecked.
The arrest of female journalist Nazira Rashidi should serve as a wake-up call that requires coordinated diplomatic pressure, sustained UN engagement, and clear consequences for violations of fundamental freedoms. Despite repeated commitments made under the 2020 Doha Agreement to ensure an “inclusive” political order and protect fundamental rights, the Taliban have imposed an information blackout that rivals some of the world’s most repressive regimes. Even more troubling is the muted response of the international community. Major human rights bodies, the European Union, the United States, and influential European states have largely failed to elevate Afghanistan’s media repression as a priority issue at the United Nations or in sustained diplomatic engagements with Qatar and the United States; both key guarantors of the Doha process.
Since reclaiming Kabul, the Taliban have issued a series of vague and restrictive decrees governing media content. Journalists are barred from reporting on topics deemed “un-Islamic,” “against national interests,” or critical of Taliban policies and all these terms are undefined and arbitrarily enforced. Newsrooms are subjected to constant surveillance, journalists are summoned for interrogations, and many outlets have been forced to shut down due to fear, financial pressure, or outright bans. Violence against journalists, their arbitrary detentions, and censorship have become norms and journalists who attempt to document human rights abuses, women’s protests, economic collapse, or internal dissent are particularly targeted, resulting an environment in which self-censorship is often the only means of survival. Under Taliban rule, women have been progressively erased from public life, barred from secondary and higher education, restricted from employment, and confined by harsh dress codes and mobility rules and journalism, once a rare space where Afghan women has become one of the most dangerous professions for them.
According to the Afghan Media Protection Organization, 93 percent of women in Afghanistan now live in fear, and journalism has become one of the primary targets of Taliban restrictions. The organization reports that 55 percent of female journalists face direct threats and harassment from the regime, while more than 32 percent are forced to work secretly in online or print media to avoid arrest or retaliation.
These figures reflect not only repression but also the slow suffocation of women’s voices from Afghanistan’s public narrative.
The recent arrest of female journalist Nazira Rashidi in Kunduz underscores the escalating dangers faced by Afghan media workers. According to reports by The Afghanistan International and the Afghan Media Support Organization, Rashidi was arrested on Tuesday, January 6, and transferred to an undisclosed location.
Her family later issued a statement confirming that she had been in Taliban custody for four days, with no information provided about her whereabouts or the charges against her. The Afghan Media Protection Organization has stated that Rashidi was detained without any legal justification, a common pattern in Taliban arrests of journalists.
Media advocacy groups in Pakistan have demanded her immediate and unconditional release, calling on the Taliban to clarify the reasons for her detention and to ensure the safety and rights of female journalists. As of the latest reports, no transparent legal process has been initiated, reinforcing fears of enforced disappearance and abuse.
Rashidi’s case is not an isolated incident, it is emblematic of a broader strategy to terrorize journalists into silence.
The international advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has ranked Afghanistan 175th out of 180 countries, placing it among the worst environments for journalists worldwide.
RSF further reports that:
- At least 12 media outlets were shut down in 2024 alone.
- Approximately 80 percent of female journalists lost their jobs, either due to direct bans or the collapse of women-inclusive media spaces.
These closures and job losses are not merely economic setbacks; they represent the systematic erasure of independent information channels in a country already facing humanitarian catastrophe.
Today, Afghanistan exists under an information blackout enforced through fear. Journalists operate knowing that a single report, tweet, or interview can result in arrest, disappearance, or violence. Families of detained journalists are left without answers, while entire communities are deprived of independent news.
Freedom of expression and free journalism—once fragile but alive in Afghanistan—are now on the verge of extinction. Without urgent international action, independent Afghan journalism risks becoming a historical memory rather than a living institution.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Afghanistan’s media crisis is the global response or lack thereof. While international organizations routinely issue statements of “concern,” there has been little sustained pressure at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly, or through binding resolutions. The European Union, the United States, and key European capitals continue to frame engagement with the Taliban primarily through humanitarian access and counterterrorism lenses, sidelining freedom of expression as a secondary issue. Qatar, which hosted the Doha talks and remains a central diplomatic channel to the Taliban, has not been publicly pressed to demand compliance with media freedom commitments, all-inclusive government and women’s rights. In the absence of consequences, sanctions tied specifically to media repression, international investigations, or diplomatic isolation, the regime has concluded that silencing journalists carries no cost.
References on Media Repression under Taliban Rule
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Afghanistan – World Press Freedom Index 2024
RSF ranks Afghanistan 175th out of 180 countries, documenting arrests, closures of media outlets, and near-total exclusion of women journalists.
https://rsf.org/en/country/afghanistan - United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan (Multiple reports, 2021–2024)
UNAMA details arbitrary arrests of journalists, censorship, intimidation, and violations of freedom of expression.
https://unama.unmissions.org/human-rights - UN Human Rights Council (OHCHR)
Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Reports confirm systematic repression of media, gender-based discrimination, and lack of due process.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/afghanistan
Women Journalists & Gender-Based Repression
- Afghan Media Protection Organization (AMPO)
Status of Female Journalists in Afghanistan (2023–2024 Reports)
Reports that 93% of women live in fear, 55% face direct threats, and over 32% work secretly to avoid arrest.
(Often cited by international NGOs and Afghan exile media) - International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
Afghanistan: Journalists Under Taliban Rule
Documents threats, job losses, and gender-based exclusion of women journalists.
https://www.ifj.org - UN Women
Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
Confirms the erasure of women from public life, including education, employment, and media.
https://www.unwomen.org
Arrest of Journalist Nazira Rashidi
- Afghanistan International
Taliban Arrest Female Journalist Nazira Rashidi in Kunduz (January 2025)
First reports confirming her arrest, transfer to an undisclosed location, and lack of legal process.
https://www.afintl.com - Afghan Media Support Organization (AMSO)
Statement on the Arrest of Nazira Rashidi
Confirms detention without charges and lack of information provided to family members. - Afghan Media Protection Organization (AMPO)
Press Release on Arbitrary Detentions of Journalists
Describes Rashidi’s detention as part of a broader pattern of enforced disappearances.
Taliban Media Decrees & Censorship
- Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Afghanistan: Taliban Tighten Grip on Media
Details vague bans on “un-Islamic” or “anti-national” reporting and arbitrary enforcement.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/afghanistan-media - Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Journalists Silenced: Taliban Media Rules
Documents surveillance of newsrooms, interrogations, and forced closures.
https://cpj.org/asia/afghanistan
Media Closures & Job Losses
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Afghanistan: Media Collapse Continues (2024 Update)
Confirms:- Closure of at least 12 media outlets in 2024
- 80% of women journalists losing employment
https://rsf.org
- UNESCO
Afghanistan Media Landscape Assessment
Highlights economic strangulation of media and disappearance of independent outlets.
https://www.unesco.org
Doha Agreement & International Responsibility
- U.S. Department of State
U.S.–Taliban Agreement (Doha Agreement), 29 February 2020
Commitments to inclusive governance and protection of rights.
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Agreement-For-Bringing-Peace-to-Afghanistan.pdf - International Crisis Group
Afghanistan: The Doha Process and Its Failures
Analysis of unmet commitments and lack of enforcement mechanisms.
https://www.crisisgroup.org - European Parliament
Resolutions on Afghanistan (2021–2024)
Notes concern but lack of binding action on media freedom.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu
Global Silence & Accountability Gaps
- Amnesty International
Afghanistan: Human Rights Defenders and Journalists at Risk
Criticizes weak international pressure and absence of accountability mechanisms.
https://www.amnesty.org - UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Annual Reports to the UN General Assembly & HRC
Explicitly warns of the extinction of independent journalism.
https://www.ohchr.org
