Space for private media in Afghanistan is continuing to shrink under Taliban policies, economic collapse and the loss of donor funding, the UN mission in Afghanistan said in its latest quarterly report.
UNAMA said Taliban restrictions are limiting meaningful public debate and constraining media content, reducing audiences and discouraging both domestic investment and international support for the sector.
As a result, some private outlets have cut one-third to half of their staff, while others expect further layoffs and eventual closure, the report said.
“For the people of Afghanistan, access to information is increasingly restricted, narrowing the scope of public discourse on a range of topics,” UNAMA wrote.
The report noted that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, in his Eid speech, did not refer directly to the media but emphasized “unity and solidarity” and the importance of obedience to leadership.
One day earlier, on June 3, the pro-Taliban newspaper Shariat published an editorial accusing media outlets that report on human rights of aligning with “enemies of Islam” and using human rights as a pretext to “promote immorality.”
Under Article 17 of the Taliban’s morality law, the morality enforcers of the Taliban are required to prevent the publication of any content deemed contrary to Sharia or containing images of living beings.
By the time of the report’s release, roughly half of Afghanistan’s provinces were under some form of restriction on the use of images of living beings. These range from bans on photographing Taliban officials at meetings to outright prohibitions on broadcasting any such images on television.
On June 29, the Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture met with media representatives to present new guidelines for political programming. The directive reinstates political talk shows, which had been suspended since February 2025, but requires political analysts to adhere to Sharia and obtain identification cards issued by the ministry.
The new guidelines also establish a committee under ministry oversight to monitor all political content aired by Afghan media.
This comes as Taliban have arrested many journalists over the past few weeks. Sources said Taliban have created a new unit that arrest media workers and journalists as well as media activists.
