Taliban members (right) attack journalists covering a women’s rights protest in Kabul on October 21, 2021. (AFP/Bulent Kilic)
The Taliban’s August 2021 takeback of power in Afghanistan has devastated the vibrant media landscape that developed after the U.S.-led invasion 20 years earlier. Between censorship, arrests, assaults, restrictions on women journalists, the flight of experienced reporters, and the country’s declining economy, Afghan media are struggling to survive. Yet in spite of these challenges, a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found glimmers of hope amid the difficulties. Afghan journalists are finding ways to keep covering the news–either from inside the country or from their places of exile.
The report includes comprehensive policy recommendations for the protection of journalists and press freedom in Afghanistan. “Afghanistan’s remaining journalists are determined to continue reporting but they, and the vast community of media workers now in exile, cannot be left to surmount the obstacles on their own,” said CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg. “The Taliban must face significant international pressure to reverse course and cease their assault on a free press.”
Alaa Abdelfattah, a prominent blogger and activist who has written about politics and human rights violations for numerous outlets, including the independent Al-Shorouk newspaper and the progressive Mada Masr news website, re-arrested in September 2019, a few months after his conditional release from prison. He was first arrested in 2014. Authorities accuse him of supporting a banned group and spreading false news.