KABUL, Afghanistan – Abdul Haq Hammad, the head of publications in the Ministry of Information and Culture, said mass media law should be approved as soon as possible, saying the law is of utmost necessity and must not be prolonged any further.
This came at a time media practitioners in Afghanistan have been facing restriction since collapse of the former government, as the Taliban leadership bid to form a new law that will bound the practice of journalism in the country.
“We do not have a media law and the Ministry of Information and Culture adjusted the law and we sent the media law to the leader of the Islamic Emirate and in the meeting we urged that this law be given priority,” Hammad said, as TOLOnews quoted.
Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media welcomes the new law, expressing support for its implementation in the country.
“If this law can solve the problems of reporters, journalists and media, we support it and we ask that they should support the media community,” said said Masroor Lutfi, head of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union (ANJU).
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KEEP READING:
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- AFJC Calls on Taliban to Revive Access to Information Laws
- Over 200 Media Outlets Shut Sown Since Taliban Takeover
- MoIC to Revise Mass Media Law in Afghanistan
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In early September, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate Zabiullah Mujahid said the mass media law will be reviewed by the Ministry of Information and Culture.
“We will make some changes in the culture and religious sections and send it to the Islamic Emirate leader to confirm, and in the near future it will be available to the media,” said Mujahid in a thread.
Media in Afghanistan Under the Taliban Rule
While the Taliban rule exclaimed during the past year no reporter has been killed in the country, Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) expressed “deep concern” over the increasing number of media practitioners being arrested and tortured.
Statistics from last 12 months by the AFJC show at least four journalists and media practitioners have lost their lives in Afghanistan: three as a result of two ISIS-affiliated explosions in Kabul and one person during coverage of the war between the Taliban and former government forces in Kandahar.
The report also showed about 130 other incidents against journalists and media practitioners, where about 90 cases were short and long-term detention up to a month, including violence and threats.
Most of these cases have been recorded during the past 8 months, which reflects on the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan since last August, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, hundreds of male and female journalists have left the country since the fall of the Islamic Republic on August 15. And, more than half of about 600 media outlets – mainly the radios, televisions, and print publications – were shut down due to financial crisis the sudden brought about to the companies.
Currently, about 30% of other media outlets that have been operating despite the odds are on the verge of financial collapse, forcing many others to operate intermittently for a few hours a day or week.
On December 2021, Reporters Without Borders and the Afghan Independent Journalist Association said that 231 out of 543 media outlets had closed, while more than 6,400 journalists had lost their jobs since the Taliban took control of the government.
