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Freedom & Media
From a diverse media sector to severe restrictions.
Before August 2021 Afghanistan had 547 media outlets and about 12,000 journalists. Within a year, four in ten outlets had closed and most journalists, and nearly all women journalists, had left the profession.
Key Facts
- 122nd → 175thPress freedom rank (of 180)RSF index, 2021 to 2026
- ~12,000 → 4,759JournalistsBefore August 2021 and one year later
- 2,756 → 747Women journalists and media workers2021 to 2025 (RSF, IFJ)
- 90+ → 11Print newspapersANJU, 2023
Press freedom rank (of 180)
122nd → 175th
RSF index, 2021 to 2026
Before/after
| Metric | Before 15 Aug 2021 | After |
|---|---|---|
| Media outlets | 547 (RSF/AIJA)59 | 328 after one year (−39.6%);59 ~470 reported operational in 2025 (IFJ; counting differences)60 |
| Journalists | ~11,857–12,00061 | 4,759 after one year;61 more than two-thirds left the profession (RSF)62 |
| Women journalists/media workers | 2,756–2,8336163 | 656 (Aug 2022) → ~600 (Mar 2024) → 747 (2025, IFJ; −74%)606163 |
| Print newspapers | >90 | 11 (ANJU, 2023)64 |
| Journalists detained | — | 141 arrests/detentions since 2021 (JX Fund compilation);65 17 detentions in 2025 (RSF)60 |
| Media directives | — | >20 Taliban directives on media and access to information66 |
The Vice & Virtue law (August 2024) forbids women's voices in public and restricts images of living beings. Several provinces have banned TV broadcasts showing people. Many outlets have dropped all content focused on women.62
RSF World Press Freedom Index rank (of 180)
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 121 |
| 2020 | 122 |
| 2021 | 122 |
| 2022 | 156 |
| 2023 | 152 |
| 2024 | 178 |
| 2025 | 175 (score 17.88) |
| 2026 | 175 (score 19.51)67 |
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
- 2026
Freedom House rated Afghanistan "Partly Free" or "Not Free" with scores around the high 20s/100 in the late Republic. Since 2022 it has rated the country "Not Free" with single-digit scores. NGOs operate under bans on female staff and growing Taliban oversight of programme design.
Free speech
Afghanistan fell from 122nd to 175th of 180 in the RSF press freedom index, and most journalists left the profession. The Republic built the freest media in the region, but its journalists were killed in large numbers by the Taliban and ISKP.
Media landscape before and after
| Measure | Before 15 Aug 2021 | Latest under the Taliban |
|---|---|---|
| Media outlets | 547 | 328 after one year; 43% closed in the first three months (RSF via Kabul Now) |
| Journalists | About 12,000 | About two-thirds have left the profession or gone into exile |
| Women journalists | 2,833 | 747 in 2025; fewer than 100 in Kabul, down from about 700 (IPS) |
| RSF rank | 122nd (2021) | 175th of 180 (2026), score 19.51, up from 17.88 in 2025 (IANS) |
| RSF legal indicator | Mass Media Law 2009 barred censorship | 178th of 180 |
| Journalists in detention | Rare | Four held in 2026 (RSF) |
| Media directives | None of this kind | More than 20 since 2021 (AFJC) |
| Provinces banning images of living beings | 0 | 19 of 34 by June 2025; Herat told to comply in Dec 2025 |
RSF says remaining outlets work under heavy pressure and self-censorship. Audiences with internet access rely on exile outlets such as Amu TV, Afghanistan International, Hasht-e Subh, Rukhshana and Kabul Now. Journalists working for exile or foreign media are accused of espionage.
Violence against journalists under both systems
The Republic era was deadly for journalists. The killers were mostly insurgents, and the state rarely convicted anyone.
| Period | What was recorded | Source |
|---|---|---|
| January 2016 | Taliban suicide attack on a TOLO staff bus in Kabul killed seven employees | Widely reported; not re-checked for this report |
| 30 April 2018 | Double bombing in Kabul killed nine journalists | RSF via RFE/RL |
| 2018 | 15 journalists and media workers killed (RSF); 20 (AFJC). Deadliest country in the world for journalists that year (CPJ) | CPJ |
| 2020 | 8 journalists and media workers killed, most deliberately targeted | AFJC |
| 2021 | 9 media workers killed | AFJC |
| Aug 2021 to Aug 2022 | 245 media freedom violations in the Taliban's first year | AFJC |
| 2022 | 260 violations | AFJC |
| 2025 | 205 incidents, including 34 arrests, two deaths and three injuries | AFJC via State Media Monitor |
The pattern changed in kind. Under the Republic the main danger was assassination and bombing by insurgents. Under the Taliban the main danger is arrest, closure and censorship by the government itself. Killings of journalists have fallen because the group that carried out most of them now rules.
Timeline of Taliban restrictions on speech
| Date | Restriction |
|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | Herat media and YouTubers told to stop showing people on screen |
| 29 Sept to 1 Oct 2025 | First nationwide internet and phone blackout, about 48 hours |
| Sept 2025 | Fibre-optic internet banned province by province; books by women removed from universities |
| June 2025 | Image ban reaches 19 provinces (Kabul Now) |
| Mar 2025 | Image ban reaches 10 provinces; at least 25 TV stations later closed or converted to radio |
| Aug 2024 | Vice and virtue law: Article 17 bans images of living beings; women's voices not to be heard in public |
| Dec 2022 | FM broadcasts of Voice of America and Radio Azadi stopped |
| May 2022 | Women presenters ordered to cover their faces on air |
| Apr 2022 | TikTok and PUBG ban announced |
| Mar 2022 | Afghan channels barred from carrying BBC, VOA and Deutsche Welle programmes |
| Sept 2021 | "11 rules" for journalists, including no content "contrary to Islam" |
| Sept 2021 onward | Women's street protests broken up; organisers detained |
Entries before 2024 without a link are widely reported events and were not re-checked for this report.
Legal framework
The 2004 Constitution protected free expression in Article 34. The Mass Media Law of 2009 barred censorship, and an access to information law followed. The Taliban first promised to respect the media law, then replaced it in practice with directives and the 2024 vice and virtue law (Kabul Now).
AFM's Position
Every Afghan has the right to speak, write, gather and believe without fear.
Research & References
Small numbers beside a figure link to its source. Figures from Taliban ministries are reported as claims and cannot be independently verified.
