The Taliban said Thursday it had shuttered an Afghan TV station over what it said was “vulgar” programming.
Around eight Taliban officials, including at least one who was armed, raided the Kabul office of Arezo TV on Wednesday morning.
Men and women were separated, and their phones taken, according to an employee who spoke with Agence France-Presse on the condition of anonymity. At least six staff members were detained and placed under investigation.
The offices were sealed and the staff told to wait for further orders, the employee said.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said Thursday that Arezo TV had been working with foreign media to dub TV programs into the Afghan language. The content appears to have been foreign TV dramas.
“Some people were using the name of Arezo TV to carry out actions that were contrary to Islamic values and national traditions,” the ministry said in a statement.
“It became clear that some people had used the name and building of Arezo TV as well as their position in the media outlet to pay temporary workers to dub vulgar serials and programs that were against Islamic and Afghan principles and traditions with the financial support of exiled media outlets outside the country,” it said.
Arezo TV, which was founded in 2006, produces news, wildlife documentaries and “Islamic series” that are dubbed from Turkish. The broadcaster has a staff of about 70 in Kabul, according to a local journalists’ association.
The raid and arrests will have a negative impact on media in Afghanistan, media associations said.
Mohammad Graan, president of the Afghanistan chapter of the South Asian Association of Reporters Club and Journalists Forum, or SJF, said that detaining Arezo TV staff could “dishearten” journalists.
“It is clear that it will pressure journalists psychologically and demotivate them,” he told VOA.
Graan said that under the law, no one has the right to search an individual’s phone or computer but, he said, “the Taliban are doing that, and that would have a negative impact on all journalists.”
He said that the Taliban are selective in dealing with the media and journalists.
“It is clear that whoever is against them or whatever damages their image, they would take action against it,” said Graan.
When the Taliban seized power in August 2021, they said media were free to report, if they didn’t publish content that is “contrary to Islam.”
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has said that there are no restrictions on journalists, if they “consider the national interest and Islamic values and avoid spreading rumors.”
But journalists say a lack of clarity around rules makes reporting in Afghanistan hard.
A Kabul-based journalist who did not want his identity to be disclosed told VOA that the Taliban actions “show that they are not committed to their words on respecting freedom of speech.”
“It is not the first time, and it won’t be the last time in Afghanistan that the Taliban closed a TV [station],” he said. The journalist said that the Taliban have closed stations in the capital and other provinces for years.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says that since the Taliban takeover, more than 40% of media outlets have disappeared and that media work under strict conditions.
The watchdog ranks Afghanistan as the third-worst country globally for press freedom.
The Kabul journalist said journalists are working under a lot of pressure.
He said managers at the media outlet he works for pressured him to remove a post this week about the Taliban ban on women training at medical institutes.
“They [the management] told me that if there is any problem, we would not be able to help you as we are also under a lot of pressure,” he said.
Graan, of the SJF, said that the journalists in Afghanistan do not feel safe.
“They live in fear. They fear that what they report could create problems for them. They could lose their job or be put in jail.”
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Human Rights Office have both said that journalists and media outlets “operate under an environment of censorship and tight restrictions.”
Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse.
