RASC News Agency: The International Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a report demanding the “immediate” revocation of the suspension of 17 media outlets in Nangarhar province. This organization, which advocates for journalists’ safety, asserts that the Taliban should cease their pressure on the media and relinquish control over their programming, allowing independent media to operate freely.
The Taliban have suspended 17 media outlets in Nangarhar province alone, with many more being restricted or shut down in other provinces. Lih Yi, the Asia Program Coordinator for the CPJ, stated, “Taliban officials must immediately revoke their decision to suspend the broadcasting licenses of 17 media outlets in Nangarhar province, which collectively reach millions of people. The Taliban continue to exert pressure on the media to control programming and broadcasting operations in Afghanistan. They must end this practice and allow independent media to operate freely.”
Previously, the Afghanistan Journalists Center reported that the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had suspended the operational licenses of 17 local media outlets in Nangarhar due to their failure to pay frequency license fees. The journalists’ advocacy organization stated on Monday, August 5, that the Taliban had warned these media outlets that they would not be allowed to operate until they paid their taxes.
According to sources in Nangarhar, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (ATRA) has verbally and in writing informed the owners of private radio and television stations about the suspension of their frequency licenses.
