takeover
Taliban in TV shows: Afghanistan’s new media world
Screenshot released by Afghan television station 1TV on April 20, 2022 shows Taliban activist Mobin Khan guesting on a talk show. Photo: -/1TV/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
After taking power in Afghanistan, Taliban leaders sit prominently on talk shows. Once unknown faces proudly tell of the attacks of the group. The broadcasters are in a bind.
It was August 2021 when what is probably the best-known Taliban representative made his appearance. Sabiullah Mujahid, the long-hidden face of the militant Islamist group, spoke to the international press after it captured the Afghan capital Kabul.
Today, the Taliban are regular guests on talk shows hosted by private broadcasters, which once even had fatalities as the group’s target.
A well-known Taliban activist is Mobin Khan. In prime time he brags about the war against the former Western-backed government. “We fought for 20 years. We sacrificed our youth. We tied bombs to our bodies,” Khan said recently on a show on private broadcaster Tolonews. For months he stayed in secret in Kabul and stirred up anti-republic sentiment on the Internet. He describes himself as “General”.
Media was once considered a great achievement
And Mujahid, who was then responsible for the military part of the Taliban’s press work, talks about his carefree travels through the country after he was apprehended by NATO years ago. “I was in prison for six months,” says Mujahid, who now acts as spokesman for the incumbent Taliban government. After a deal with the Afghan government, he was finally released. These stories can hardly be verified.
Afghanistan’s media landscape, always touted as one of the great achievements of international military intervention, has changed dramatically since the Taliban took power. According to the International Federation of Journalists, hundreds of editorial offices and radio stations have stopped working and more than 2,000 media workers have lost their jobs. Dozens of journalists have been temporarily arrested over the past eight months for reporting on women’s protests, for example.
Pressure via Ministry of Virtue
Two Taliban institutions in particular are putting pressure on media professionals: the newly established Ministry for the Preservation of Virtue, which sees itself as responsible for defining moral values, and the Taliban’s domestic intelligence service. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported in February about detentions of Afghan journalists in the notorious Bagram prison, where allegations of torture and abuse against US soldiers had been made before the Taliban rule. New media laws further restrict the broadcasters’ work. The Taliban demand reporting consistent with Islamic values and national interests. What that means exactly is often unclear.
Saad Mohseni, CEO of the Moby Group, which is behind the well-known broadcaster Tolonews, quickly took action after the Taliban took power. “We have instructed our moderators to dress more conservatively,” said the 55-year-old in a recent interview with the news company Bloomberg. Music and soap operas have also been eliminated. “That was wise, because the Taliban went into the stations and threatened to take people away if they didn’t cancel certain programs.”
The current situation is a balancing act, and negotiations are ongoing with the Taliban. At the same time, the station also made surprising decisions, such as increasing the number of employees after August 2021. “The Taliban tolerate us to a certain extent,” Mohseni said. “Even within the Taliban, there are factions that fight for power and use the media to spread their views,” the media mogul said.
Media professionals are intimidated
Lesser-known broadcasters often face greater pressure. Hardly anyone working in the media wants to talk about it publicly today, the fear of the consequences is too great. A moderator from Kabul, who prefers to remain anonymous, talks about apparently random arrests in the capital. The Taliban pulled black hoods over their heads and dragged them into vehicles before they were released a few days later. Journalists have left the country in droves.
The new situation is a dilemma for broadcasters. On the one hand, they want to continue reporting independently, while at the same time Taliban representatives are pushing their way into the talk shows with radical opinions. Many media can hardly afford public dissent. Just a week ago, a well-known 1TV presenter, Mohibullah Jalili, was arrested and beaten. The Taliban promised an investigation. However, organizations such as Reporters Without Borders see targeted attempts at intimidation behind these actions.
The Taliban are back in power after two decades. What remains for many is only the hope for a changed and courageous civil society. “The harassment of journalists has intensified as a result of the new restrictions, especially since the beginning of 2022, which has caused great concern in the media,” Reporters Without Borders complained in early April. The United Nations are calling on them to act. “The situation of press freedom in Afghanistan must not disappear under the radar of the international community.”