Freedom of expression has diminished in Afghanistan: Survey

The Afghan media community continues to face overwhelming challenges under the new Taliban regime and this has instilled a sense of uncertainty in them.

The Taliban said that the amendment in the access to information law is under assessment and Afghanistan's National Journalists' Union held a gathering in Kabul on Saturday to share its findings from a survey carried out to assess the status of freedom of expression in the country, according to Tolo News.

The survey which interviewed 500 media workers, 25 per cent of whom were women--indicated that the freedom of expression has diminished in the country.

After the fall of the former government, access to information has been restricted, according to Tolo News.

"The interference by the (Ministry) of information and culture is a big challenge in the provinces. Nearly 30 per cent (of interviewers) said the withholding of interviews by the Taliban is a serious problem. Over 50 per cent said that the people are afraid of the situation and are not willing to give interviews," said Masror Lutfi, head of the union.

"We have said it repeatedly via media that lack of law brings a lot of problems. One of them is double standard toward media organizations," Lutfi said.

On the other hand, Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman for Taliban said that the law of access to information and press is under evaluation and maybe there will not be very much difference (from previous law)

According to some media-supporting organizations, over 70 per cent of media outlets halted their operations since the Taliban came to power, according to Tolo News.

( With inputs from ANI )

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