Taliban Bans VOA and BBC in Afghanistan

There is no access to Voice of America (VOA) and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news in Afghanistan due to a ban by the Taliban.

The ban is the latest in a series of restrictions the Islamist group imposed on Afghan media since it took control of the country in August. Washington-based VOA has swiftly denounced the Taliban for shutting down its broadcasts.

“We ask the Taliban to reconsider this troubling and unfortunate decision,” Acting VOA Director Yolanda Lόpez said in a statement Sunday. “The content restrictions that the Taliban are attempting to impose are antithetical to freedom of expression that the people of Afghanistan deserve,” said Lόpez.

The American broadcaster produces a half-hour news bulletin in Pashto and Dari, Afghanistan's official languages, five days weekly for its Afghan partners, TOLO news and Shamshad TV. Lόpez added, “while we are disappointed and saddened by the Taliban’s orders to our television affiliate partners in the country, our commitment to providing factual information to the people of Afghanistan is one that the Voice of America will continue on television, radio, and the internet on www.pashtovoa.com and www.darivoa.com, as well as on social media.”

Also, the BBC's head of languages urged the Taliban to immediately lift the ban on BBC news bulletins. "The BBC's TV news bulletins in Pashto, Persian, and Uzbek have been taken off air in Afghanistan after the Taliban ordered our TV partners to remove international broadcasters from their airwaves," Tarik Kafala confirmed in a statement Sunday.

“This is a worrying development at a time of uncertainty and turbulence for the people of Afghanistan,” Kafala said. He noted that “more than six million Afghans consume the BBC’s independent and impartial journalism on TV every week and it is crucial they are not denied access to it in the future.”

Taliban spokesman, when asked whether they have ordered Afghan channels to stop airing international broadcasts, told VOA he would collect information and get back to them. During the Taliban regime, media freedom and free speech were weakened in Afghanistan, say domestic and international critics.

Security forces have repeatedly detained and violently attacked Afghan journalists. Taliban government officials have issued a set of "journalism rules," including that media adhere to the group's interpretation of Islamic doctrine on "enjoying good and forbidding evil."

According to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released in December, at least 40% of Afghan media outlets have disappeared and more than 80% of women journalists have lost their jobs since the Taliban took control of the country.

As a result of the research, the environment for journalists in Kabul and the rest of the country is considered "extremely fraught." Critics assert the situation has worsened since then. Also since August, hundreds of journalists have fled Afghanistan for fear of reprisals or because of difficulties practicing their profession under the new leadership.

Since August 15, when the Taliban seized control of Kabul, more than 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs, according to an RSF survey.