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In the BBC Persian TV studio
Photo: Jeff Overs / BBC News & Current Affairs / Getty Images
The British broadcaster BBC has called on the Taliban government in Afghanistan to reverse the blockade on the broadcasting of BBC news in the local languages.
Other foreign media are also affected, such as the US foreign broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) and Deutsche Welle (DW).
In Afghanistan, the BBC news in Pashto, Persian and Uzbek was no longer available "after the Taliban ordered our TV partners to withdraw international channels from their frequencies," said BBC World Service's head of language services, Tarik Kafala , On Sunday.
He called on the radical Islamic government in Kabul to "overturn its decision" and "immediately" allow the broadcasting of BBC news in Afghanistan again.
In his statement, Kafala highlighted that more than six million Afghans watch BBC coverage every week: "It is crucial that they are not denied access to it in the future."
"Very disturbing"
DW Director General Peter Limbourg told the German Press Agency on Monday: "The increasing restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Afghanistan are very worrying." to normalization.
»The fact that the Taliban are now criminalizing the distribution of DW programs by our media partners hinders positive development in Afghanistan.
Free media is essential for this and we will do everything we can to continue to provide the people of Afghanistan with independent information via the internet and social media.«
Deutsche Welle had previously shown a political talk show in two Afghan languages on one news channel and a science magazine on another TV channel.
control through bans
When asked by dpa, the Taliban justified the move as follows: Because foreign media broadcast from abroad, they have no access to control their content - such as the reporters' clothes.
They also occasionally broadcast content that contradicts their own religious values and Afghan culture, for example.
Therefore, it was decided to ban the programs of these foreign TV stations through Afghan TV media.
The Taliban recently launched a crackdown on Afghan media for, among other things, broadcasting soap operas from abroad.
After the Taliban returned to power, many Afghan journalists fled.
Numerous media outlets were closed mainly due to economic problems.
Many journalists who are still in Afghanistan no longer feel able to report openly.
The Afghan Journalists' Center said on Monday that a local radio station in Kandahar was raided and at least three employees were arrested.
The UN mission in Afghanistan condemned the Taliban's action against international media as "another unpleasant development".
It is a new "repressive step against the Afghan people".
sak/AFP/dpa
