The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture announced on Tuesday that it had suspended an Afghan women’s radio station, Radio Begum, for “unauthorized provision” of content and programming to a foreign TV channel. This marks the second time the authorities have shut down a media outlet for allegedly collaborating with foreign media.
According to the ministry, Radio Begum violated broadcasting regulations and misused its license by distributing content to an overseas TV station. The ministry stated that it would review the necessary documents to assess the station’s future.
Radio Begum, which was launched on International Women’s Day in March 2021, began operating just five months before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan following the U.S. and NATO withdrawal. The station’s programming is entirely produced by Afghan women. Its sister channel, Begum TV, broadcasts from France and offers educational content that covers Afghanistan’s school curriculum for grades 7 to 12.
Rights organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, strongly condemned the suspension of Radio Begum on Tuesday and called for the decision to be overturned.
Since the Taliban’s takeover, women in Afghanistan have been excluded from education, many professions, and public spaces. Journalists, particularly women, have lost their jobs as the Taliban continues to tighten control over the media.
In the 2024 press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders, Afghanistan ranks 178th out of 180 countries, a sharp decline from 152nd the previous year.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Information did not specify which foreign TV channel Radio Begum was allegedly working with.
In May, the Taliban issued a warning to journalists and experts in Afghanistan, urging them to stop cooperating with Afghanistan International TV, marking the first time they specifically targeted an outlet for such a ban.
