Several female journalists in Kabul say that the Taliban’s growing restrictions have severely hampered their professional activities. They add that they currently face intense censorship, limitations on covering events, and interference in the content of their reports, issues that have significantly undermined their professional independence and freedom of expression. According to these journalists, they are not permitted to cover events freely, speak with Taliban officials, or even choose critical topics, and are forced to continue working merely to make ends meet. In their view, the continuation of this situation has not only put the professional futures of female journalists at risk but has also severely compromised the public’s access to balanced and multifaceted information. These journalists emphasize that the presence and participation of women in the media are essential for reflecting social realities and defending the rights of citizens.
Most of these journalists, who feared speaking with the Hasht-e Subh Daily due to the Taliban’s sweeping restrictions, told the newspaper that they are excluded from press conferences, denied entry into Taliban offices, and sometimes subjected to direct insults and threats. According to them, new restrictions expand further every day, and even some media managers have been compelled to comply with these pressures. Nevertheless, many of these journalists insist that,t despite the bleak outlook, they will not abandon their work in informing the public.
Since seizing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have severely suppressed the media, restricted freedom of expression, and largely confined access to information to coverage that reflects their own activities. In this environment, female journalists, due to their gender, face not only professional restrictions but also the broader limitations imposed on women. The scope of these restrictions is so extensive that some female journalists cannot even speak under a pseudonym about the pressures and constraints that affect their daily lives and work.
Khalida (pseudonym), a female journalist in Kabul, says that since the Taliban took control of the city, her journalism work has been accompanied by numerous challenges. She adds that censorship, discriminatory treatment, and countless other pressures have become part of her daily life. According to Khalida, the Taliban’s presence in newsrooms and the compliance of some media managers with this group’s directives have made the working environment for female journalists more restrictive than ever before.
She says: “I began my career in 2019 with a private media outlet. Comparing that time to now, so much has changed. We are under intense control and censorship. Some restrictions apply to everyone, but we bear a far heavier burden of these pressures because of our gender. I entered this profession with great enthusiasm and motivation, but today I continue only because of financial difficulties, and I find no enjoyment in the work I am forced to do. Realities remain hidden behind the curtain, and there is no choice but silence.”
Khalida adds that media outlets under Taliban control are compelled to cover imposed topics, primarily in the areas of security and subjects that serve the Taliban’s interests. She also says that organizations that support journalists have forgotten them, and that within the media outlets where they work, discriminatory attitudes toward women have increased, and their self-confidence has been severely undermined.
She further states: “Taliban control over the media is extremely intense. You cannot work on any critical topic. On the street or anywhere they see a camera or a microphone, they may interrogate you, and some journalists have been questioned for up to an hour. Even if you are fully veiled, you still face harassment and humiliation. Such behavior destroys a person’s self-confidence. It has even affected male colleagues and caused a kind of discriminatory attitude to take hold in the workplace.”
Asma (pseudonym), another female journalist in Kabul, says that since the Taliban took control of the city, respect for female journalists has sharply declined, and their salaries differ significantly compared to those of male journalists. She adds that working conditions for journalists have become severely restricted, and those working with domestic media as well as those collaborating with exile-based media are under increased pressure and lack job security.
Asma says: “Female journalists, whether in domestic or exile-based media, do not have job security or professional protection. On one hand, we face Taliban restrictions, and on the other hand, in exile-based media, despite journalists working under great difficulty and danger, their monthly salaries are very low compared to the risks they bear. Many of us have no formal contracts, press cards, or job guarantees. Work is mostly project-based, and once a project ends, so collaborates. In domestic media, whenever budgets are cut or run out, female journalists are often the first to be laid off.”
Sima (pseudonym), another female journalist in Kabul, says that in the media outlet where she works, very few women are present due to Taliban restrictions. She calls on organizations that support journalists to pay serious attention to the situation of female journalists and not forget them.
Sima says: “Media outlets are facing severe financial difficulties, and many journalists are in very poor financial conditions. A large number of our colleagues have lost their jobs, are confined to their homes, and are struggling with economic hardships. Journalists’ job security is only guaranteed if they act in accordance with the Taliban’s orders; otherwise, journalists may face torture and imprisonment. In general, current restrictions have engulfed all media in Afghanistan, and freedom of expression among media outlets has been severely suppressed.”
Four and a half years have passed since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, and the country’s media are enduring extremely difficult times. The pressures and restrictions today are no longer isolated incidents; rather, what is being witnessed is a systematic and continuous suppression that began with the forced closure of dozens of media outlets and has now extended to banning the publication of images of living beings, the detention and torture of journalists, widespread censorship, the gradual elimination of women from the media landscape, and even the revocation of licenses of organizations that supported the media.
Reports from the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) and international organizations indicate that media freedom in Afghanistan has fallen to its lowest point in the country’s contemporary history. The Afghanistan Journalists Center has emphasized that pressure on women active in the media has increased significantly, and the few media outlets managed by women are either facing closure threats or encountering serious obstacles in renewing their licenses.
According to the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, Afghanistan ranks 175th out of 180 countries. More than half of the country’s media outlets have been shut down, and a large number of journalists have been forced to flee, go into hiding, or abandon their profession.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
زندان رسانهها و حذف زنان؛ طالبان آزادی خبرنگاران زن را بیشتر سرکوب کردهاند
