In Afghan media
Taliban block Deutsche Welle and BBC
03/28/2022, 2:39 p.m
Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have increasingly regulated the press. State-owned broadcasters are now no longer allowed to show the programs of some foreign media such as Deutsche Welle. DW director Limbourg calls this restriction of press freedom “very worrying”.
Afghan media are no longer allowed to use Deutsche Welle (DW) program content for their TV programs. Other foreign media are also affected, the British BBC and the US foreign broadcaster Voice of America (VOA). The broadcasters said so. DW Director General Peter Limbourg said: “The increasing restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Afghanistan are very worrying.” Since the Taliban took power, the people of Afghanistan have waited in vain for their living conditions to improve, or at least for normalization.
“The fact that the Taliban are now criminalizing the dissemination of DW programs by our media partners hinders positive development in Afghanistan. Free media are essential for this and we will do everything we can to continue to engage the people in Afghanistan via the Internet and social media independent information,” added Limbourg.
Taliban: Content contradicts Afghan culture
At the request of the German press agency, the Taliban justified the step as follows: Because foreign media broadcast from abroad, they have no access to control their content – such as the reporters’ clothes. They also occasionally broadcast content that contradicts their own religious values and Afghan culture, for example. Therefore, it was decided to ban the programs of these foreign TV stations through Afghan TV media.
Deutsche Welle had previously shown a political talk show in two Afghan languages on one news channel and a science magazine on another TV channel. The German broadcaster abroad can currently continue to distribute its content via its own channels in Afghanistan: via shortwave radio, via its own website and via social media.
The Taliban recently launched a crackdown on Afghan media for broadcasting soap operas from abroad, among other things. After the Taliban returned to power, many Afghan journalists fled. Numerous media outlets were closed mainly due to economic problems. Many journalists who are still in Afghanistan no longer feel able to report openly because they fear reprisals. The Afghan Journalists’ Center said on Monday that a local radio station in Kandahar was raided and at least three employees were arrested.