Bakhtar News Agency

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A journalist at The Kabul Times in Afghanistan in 2023. The Taliban’s information ministry runs the decades-old newspaper, one of about 15 major news outlets that have become tightly aligned with the group's radical Islamist ideology.

How the Taliban’s propaganda empire consumed Afghan media

In four years, the Taliban have annihilated Afghanistan’s independent media sector and supplanted it with their own propaganda empire and sophisticated digital bots that flood social media with pro-Taliban content. CPJ interviewed 10 Afghan journalists, inside and outside the country, who said that  independent media, which used to reach millions of people, have largely been…

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Taliban fighters stand guard in Kabul, Afghanistan, in January 2023.

Taliban bans, restricts media operations in 2 Afghanistan provinces

New York, February 22, 2023 – The Taliban must reverse their recent orders targeting media operations in Helmand and Parwan provinces and allow journalists to work freely and independently, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, February 21, Taliban officials, in a meeting with journalists in the southern province of Helmand, announced a ban…

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Taliban members beat Afghan journalist Selgay Ehsas, force her to record video message

Washington, D.C., August 3, 2022 – Taliban authorities must investigate the beating and harassment of journalist Selgay Ehsas, hold those responsible to account, and allow female journalists to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On July 20, several men armed with rifles approached Ehsas, a sports presenter with the independent broadcaster Radio…

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Taliban raids homes of 2 more journalists in Afghanistan

Washington, D.C., August 24, 2021 – The Taliban must immediately cease raiding the homes of journalists and allow the media to operate freely and openly without fear of violence or reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 17 and 20, Taliban militants raided the homes of at least two members of the…

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