{"id":9497,"date":"2026-05-04T19:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/news\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T19:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:41:08","slug":"afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban’s Claims of Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contrary to the claims made by Taliban officials, global reports paint a picture of a media catastrophe in Afghanistan…<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Grim Reality for Afghan Media<\/h2>\n

Officials from the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture recently announced the issuance of 140 new licenses for media outlets, reiterating the group’s commitment to supporting press freedom. However, they emphasized that all media must adhere to Taliban publishing policies\u2014conditions that international organizations view as a facade for systematic censorship and the suppression of independent voices.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The reality is stark and grim: Afghanistan has plummeted 53 places in the global press freedom index, now ranking 175 out of 180 countries. This decline is accompanied by a dramatic rise in media closures, with more than half of the country’s media outlets shut down and nearly 80% of female journalists forced to abandon their jobs. Furthermore, at least 34 cases of arbitrary detentions and reports of torture against journalists in the past year raise serious questions about the Taliban’s commitment to press freedom, transforming Afghanistan into one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters. The situation is further compounded by UNICEF’s warnings<\/a> of an imminent crisis that threatens not only media freedom but also education and healthcare for women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite Taliban officials announcing new media licenses, Afghanistan’s press freedom is under severe threat. The country has fallen dramatically in global rankings, with widespread media closures and a troubling rise in violence against journalists, highlighting a grim reality that contradicts the Taliban’s stated commitment to independent voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_mat_hreflang_tags":{"fa-AF":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/photos\/%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%b9%d8%a7-%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%87-%d8%a2%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%db%8c-%d8%a8%db%8c%d8%a7%d9%86.html\/","en":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/","ar":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/ar\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/"},"addvideo":"","video_duration":"","farsit":"\u0627\u062f\u0639\u0627\u06cc \u062d\u0645\u0627\u06cc\u062a \u0637\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0632 \u0631\u0633\u0627\u0646\u0647\u200c\u0647\u0627 \u062f\u0631 \u0628\u0631\u0627\u0628\u0631 \u0633\u0642\u0648\u0637 \u062a\u0627\u0631\u06cc\u062e\u06cc \u0622\u0632\u0627\u062f\u06cc \u0628\u06cc\u0627\u0646","target":"0","top_stories":"0","top":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture"],"acf":{"myctype":"","target":false,"top_stories":false,"top":false,"farsit":"\u0627\u062f\u0639\u0627\u06cc \u062d\u0645\u0627\u06cc\u062a \u0637\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0632 \u0631\u0633\u0627\u0646\u0647\u200c\u0647\u0627 \u062f\u0631 \u0628\u0631\u0627\u0628\u0631 \u0633\u0642\u0648\u0637 \u062a\u0627\u0631\u06cc\u062e\u06cc \u0622\u0632\u0627\u062f\u06cc \u0628\u06cc\u0627\u0646"},"yoast_head":"\nAfghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban's Claims of Support<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite Taliban officials announcing new media licenses, Afghanistan's press freedom is under severe threat. The country has fallen dramatically in global rankings, with widespread media closures and a troubling rise in violence against journalists, highlighting a grim reality that contradicts the Taliban's stated commitment to independent voices.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban's Claims of Support\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite Taliban officials announcing new media licenses, Afghanistan's press freedom is under severe threat. The country has fallen dramatically in global rankings, with widespread media closures and a troubling rise in violence against journalists, highlighting a grim reality that contradicts the Taliban's stated commitment to independent voices.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ariana News Agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T15:16:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-05T14:41:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1bb4dc3ad3a31bd521cf4dbf362d1e4\"},\"headline\":\"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban’s Claims of Support\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-04T15:16:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T14:41:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":215,\"articleSection\":[\"Picture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban's Claims of Support\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-04T15:16:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T14:41:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1bb4dc3ad3a31bd521cf4dbf362d1e4\"},\"description\":\"Despite Taliban officials announcing new media licenses, Afghanistan's press freedom is under severe threat. The country has fallen dramatically in global rankings, with widespread media closures and a troubling rise in violence against journalists, highlighting a grim reality that contradicts the Taliban's stated commitment to independent voices.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/picture\\\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban’s Claims of Support\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ariana News Agency\",\"description\":\"Afghanistan News - Breaking News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ariananews.co\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1bb4dc3ad3a31bd521cf4dbf362d1e4\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ad725df131a282208668d643884a72a5a4096a91f38504d306c9ac7785261fb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ad725df131a282208668d643884a72a5a4096a91f38504d306c9ac7785261fb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ad725df131a282208668d643884a72a5a4096a91f38504d306c9ac7785261fb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban's Claims of Support","description":"Despite Taliban officials announcing new media licenses, Afghanistan's press freedom is under severe threat. The country has fallen dramatically in global rankings, with widespread media closures and a troubling rise in violence against journalists, highlighting a grim reality that contradicts the Taliban's stated commitment to independent voices.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban's Claims of Support","og_description":"Despite Taliban officials announcing new media licenses, Afghanistan's press freedom is under severe threat. The country has fallen dramatically in global rankings, with widespread media closures and a troubling rise in violence against journalists, highlighting a grim reality that contradicts the Taliban's stated commitment to independent voices.","og_url":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/","og_site_name":"Ariana News Agency","article_published_time":"2026-05-04T15:16:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-05T14:41:08+00:00","author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/"},"author":{"name":"Admin","@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c1bb4dc3ad3a31bd521cf4dbf362d1e4"},"headline":"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban’s Claims of Support","datePublished":"2026-05-04T15:16:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T14:41:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/"},"wordCount":215,"articleSection":["Picture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/","url":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/","name":"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban's Claims of Support","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-04T15:16:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T14:41:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c1bb4dc3ad3a31bd521cf4dbf362d1e4"},"description":"Despite Taliban officials announcing new media licenses, Afghanistan's press freedom is under severe threat. The country has fallen dramatically in global rankings, with widespread media closures and a troubling rise in violence against journalists, highlighting a grim reality that contradicts the Taliban's stated commitment to independent voices.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/picture\/afghan-media-faces-crisis-amid-talibans-claims-of-support\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Afghan Media Faces Crisis Amid Taliban’s Claims of Support"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/","name":"Ariana News Agency","description":"Afghanistan News - Breaking News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c1bb4dc3ad3a31bd521cf4dbf362d1e4","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad725df131a282208668d643884a72a5a4096a91f38504d306c9ac7785261fb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad725df131a282208668d643884a72a5a4096a91f38504d306c9ac7785261fb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad725df131a282208668d643884a72a5a4096a91f38504d306c9ac7785261fb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9499,"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497\/revisions\/9499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ariananews.co\/en\/sar0odfo-0d5s8fw-api0\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}