Afghan Journalists Denounce Taliban Restrictions Against US Public Radio Broadcasting

11 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) has denounced restrictions on the broadcasts of United States international public radio in the country in recent days, within a campaign that began two months ago with the cutting of its frequencies to continue with impediments. access to their web pages.

Radio Azadi and Voice of America are the two outlets affected by these restrictions. Sources from the latter station close to what happened, as well as from national communication operators, on condition of anonymity, suspect that these cuts are the result of a direct order from the Taliban.

“It is clear that it is not a technical problem because all the websites are closed through the main operators. It is clear that it is the work of the Taliban, but the country’s (Media) Commission has not received any notification,” according to one from these sources.

Warrantless restraint of the media remains a criminal offense under Afghan law despite the rise of the Taliban movement to power.

The Taliban have not ruled on an incident that VOA acting director Yolanda López expected at some point, according to a statement posted on her Twitter account.

“We have prepared for it. [y] our audience in Afghanistan has been using tools promoted by VOA to circumvent the blockade,” according to the note.

The current Afghan authorities accuse these outlets of violating journalistic principles and providing biased information.

According to the AFJC, more than half of the 600 media outlets that were active in Afghanistan before the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 have been shut down either for economic reasons or due to restrictions by fundamentalists. In addition, hundreds of Afghan journalists and media workers have fled their country.