At least four news broadcasters have been taken off air, eight media workers arrested, and two media houses shuttered by the Taliban since March 26, amid a wide-reaching ban on foreign media. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Afghanistan affiliate, the Afghanistan National Journalists’ Union (ANJU), call for the immediate release of the detained journalists and the retraction of all arbitrary restrictions on both national and international media with the intention of stifling press freedom.
On March 27, the BBC revealed that its news bulletins in Persian, Pashto and Uzbek languages were taken off air after their local partners were ordered to remove all international broadcasters from Afghanistan’s airwaves by the Taliban. According to the BBC, its Persian television channel can still be accessed via satellite.
“This is a worrying development at a…
