The World Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) announced that Afghanistan’s membership in the coalition has been cancelled.
“Since seizing power, the Taliban have imposed serious restrictions on media freedom that have threatened the safety and well-being of journalists and media workers,” it explained. “It is clear to the MFC that the situation of media freedom in Afghanistan is, unfortunately, no longer in line with the Global Pledge. Indeed, the current state of affairs is one of grave concern,” stated the coalition on Friday, November 18.
Canada and the Netherlands, which co-chair the coalition, said that this action was taken in consultation with all members and in accordance with the requirements of the coalition. The statement also said that the coalition will continue to closely monitor the media freedom situation in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan became a member of the World Coalition for Media Freedom in 2020. The member countries in this coalition pledged to fulfill global obligations in the field of freedom of expression.
Freedom of speech and media activities have faced serious restrictions after the Taliban came to power. In more than a year since seizing power, the Taliban has subjected journalists and media workers to violence, threats, and arrests. The World Coalition for Media Freedom has emphasized that the harassment, attacks, arrests of journalists, and expulsion of women from the media have caused the independence of the media to be violated.
The news comes after the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced an unprecedented increase in violence against journalists in Afghanistan and said that over the past year, more than 200 cases of rights violations have been documented.
Many news organizations are being forced to close. Reporters Without Borders report that 219 print, audio, and visual media have stopped operating in the country in the past year, leaving just 328.
Reporters Without Borders found that 60 percent of Afghan journalists are unemployed, with women the most affected. Around 85 percent of women have lost their jobs in the media in the past year and there are now no female journalists working in 15 out of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
