Reporters Call Taliban Media Reforms ‘Censorship’

Reporters Call Taliban Media Reforms ‘Censorship’

Taliban leaders of Afghanistan are praising the effects of their restrictions¹ on the country's broadcasters. The new laws bar state and private television channels from showing programs considered offensive. This includes foreign movies and performances by female singers, as well as any material critical of Islam or the Taliban.

Hayatullah Mohajir Farahi is deputy information and culture minister in the Taliban Cabinet. "Ninety-five percent of the visual and audio media outlets² in the country have been reformed," he told reporters in Kabul.

The Taliban has established a system to monitor all broadcasts to make sure they honor the rules on content. One rule, for example, requires all female broadcasters to cover their heads and faces when on television.

Industry experts say the reforms amount to extensive suppression of a severely³ weakened Afghan media.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFCJ) reports at least 245 cases of censorship, detentions⁵ and violence against media workers over the past year.

The Taliban says no reporters have died in the country since the group returned to power in August 2021.

"It's good news that no journalist has been murdered in the past one year, but we should also know that more than 130 journalists and media personnel were detained and some were tortured by the Taliban in the same period," said an AFCJ representative who requested to keep their identity secret over safety concerns.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 10 journalists were killed in Afghanistan in 2020 and 2021. The Taliban was blamed for some of the deaths.

At least three reporters, several video producers and a U.S. filmmaker and his Afghan producer are in Taliban detention⁴ right now.

Recently, the Taliban announced a news media violations⁶ agency. It has no female members, journalists, or human rights representatives.

Since taking power, the Taliban have faced protests, mostly by women's rights activists⁷. They call for the reopening of secondary schools for girls, employment and political rights for women. The Taliban have told media outlets to stay away from protests.

Mujahid said that "Recent protests have been illegal and therefore filming and reporting on them is also illegal." He added that protesters must get permission from Taliban officials to hold marches.

The U.N. and human rights organizations have condemned⁸ the Taliban's policies toward women and the press. On September 6, a U.N. human rights official said that the Taliban had limited the freedom of peaceful gatherings⁹ and used unnecessary force against protesters.

Hundreds of journalists and media personnel have left Afghanistan over the past year. More than 80 percent of female reporters have lost their jobs, media support groups say.

About 210 TV and radio stations and more than 100 publications remain active in Afghanistan.

Wazhmah Osman wrote a book on Afghan television culture and is an associate professor at Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University in Pennsylvania. She told VOA that the media producers want to "serve the public with news, entertainment, and other programs that people crave¹⁰ and need."

Words in This Story

censorship – v. the practice of examining publications, movies, television programs, and the like and removing or prohibiting anything those in power object to

journalist – n. a person whose job is to collect news and write about it for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio

visual -adj. of or relating to sight

crave – v. to long for or want greatly; to desire eagerly

monitor – v. to watch, observe; to follow activity of something or someone

entertainment – n. something, such as a show, that is a form of amusement or recreation

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

5 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

10 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。