When the Taliban marched into Kabul in August 2021, it was not merely a change in power. It was the collapse of Afghanistan’s last democratic defense, its independent media. The ongoing Taliban Media Crackdown in Afghanistan is not just censorship; it is the deliberate destruction of truth itself.
In four years, Afghanistan has become what human rights groups now call a “black hole for journalism.” The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) documented 140 violations against journalists in just the first half of 2025, a 56% increase from the previous year. Every number hides a broken newsroom, a silenced reporter, or a life lost for speaking truth to power.
The Anatomy of Media Annihilation
Afghanistan’s once-flourishing press, built with international assistance after 2001, has been crushed under an orchestrated campaign of legal, ideological, and physical repression. The Taliban Media Crackdown in Afghanistan is now systematic.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture has become a censorship authority. Private broadcasters are forbidden from airing BBC, VOA, and Deutsche Welle content. Journalists must seek prior approval before airing news. Every newsroom has effectively turned into a government office.
The 2024 Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law, known as the “Morality Law,” formalized this repression. It banned all “images of living beings,” silencing photojournalists and shutting down 23 television channels. Those that remain broadcast nothing but propaganda.
The ambiguity of these laws breeds fear. Self-censorship now dominates the press. The Taliban no longer need to raid every outlet; they have successfully colonized the minds of those who once reported freely.
Violence as Governance
Censorship is the surface layer; violence is the foundation. The Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) enforces control through intimidation, arrests, and torture. Journalists detained for “un-Islamic reporting” often return bruised and traumatized, if they return at all.
In 2025, several radio stations were shut down for alleged “foreign collaboration.” Those permitted to resume operations were forced to sign loyalty agreements with the Taliban regime. The Taliban Media Crackdown in Afghanistan has been particularly devastating for women. More than 80% of female journalists have lost their jobs since 2021. Those still working cannot appear on camera without full veils, travel without male guardians, or report freely.
UN experts describe the Taliban’s policies as “gender persecution amounting to crimes against humanity.” Yet, against all odds, some defiance remains. In 2024, the number of active women journalists increased from 557 to 893.
Beyond Borders: Refuge and Betrayal
Pakistan’s Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan of 2025 reflects a difficult balance between national security and humanitarian responsibility. While Islamabad seeks to regulate borders and curb militancy, the policy has unintentionally endangered Afghan journalists who fled the Taliban Media Crackdown in Afghanistan. Many hold valid Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, yet now face deportation. A more strategic, rights-based approach would allow Pakistan to protect its security interests while preserving its soft power and moral standing as a state that upholds justice, not silence.
Silence Is Not Neutrality
The Taliban seek to control not only people but also the narrative of a nation. Their war is against memory, expression, and truth itself. Every silenced journalist, every shuttered newsroom, is another victory for darkness. But resistance still breathes. Anonymous bloggers, secret broadcasters, and women defying every restriction continue to tell Afghanistan’s story. Their courage keeps the nation’s pulse alive.
The international community failed Afghanistan once. It must not fail again. Because when the Taliban Media Crackdown in Afghanistan succeeds, it will not just kill journalism, it will bury justice with it.
