Archive · 10 Aug 2026
Taliban turned Afghanistan into prison for information, RSF says
Reporters Without Borders is a group that checks if journalists can work freely.
It says that Afghanistan has become like a prison for information.
That means it is very hard for reporters to share news there.
The Taliban has run Afghanistan since 2021.
They have made more than twenty rules that stop reporters from doing their jobs.
People are not allowed to say bad things about the leaders.
A new law says people could go to jail or be whipped for criticizing the Taliban.
Many Afghan journalists have left the country to stay safe.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the Taliban has turned Afghanistan into a 'prison for information' over the past five years.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban has issued more than 20 national directives and several provincial decrees restricting press freedom.
A leaked Code of Criminal Procedure, secretly adopted in January 2026, provides for prison terms and flogging for insulting Taliban leadership.
The new code offers no protection for media professionals and punishes contact with opponents of the government.
Hundreds of Afghan journalists have fled the country, and RSF is urging host countries not to deport or forcibly return them.
- Who
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media watchdog, and the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.
- What
- RSF said the Taliban has systematically dismantled press freedom, including a new criminal code that codifies censorship and criminalises criticism.
- When
- Over the five years since August 2021; the new Code of Criminal Procedure was adopted in January 2026.
- Where
- Afghanistan, with RSF's statement released from Kabul.
- Why
- To silence criticism, erase women journalists, and gain absolute control over the flow of information.
- Watchdog
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Taliban takeover
- August 2021
- Directives issued
- More than 20 national directives and several provincial decrees
- New criminal code
- Secretly adopted January 2026; revealed by a leak
- Penalties
- Prison terms and flogging for insulting Taliban leadership
- RSF official
- Celia Mercier, head of RSF South Asia Desk
- Journalists affected
- Hundreds forced to flee Afghanistan