Taliban Says UNESCO Media Projects Must Be Coordinated With Them
Zia-Ul-Haq Haqmal, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister of Broadcasting of the Ministry of Information and Culture, has met with Patricia McPhillips, the head of UNESCO in Afghanistan.
Haqmal told McPhillips that media projects should be provided to the media in coordination with the Taliban's Ministry of Information and Culture.
On Wednesday, Haqmal said that the media outlets have complaints about the projects, and to address these complaints, the projects should be made available to these organisations in coordination with the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The Bakhtar News Agency, under Taliban control, reported that McPhillips assured she would increase coordination with the group's Ministry in this regard. Bakhtar wrote that "the head of UNESCO welcomed the progress made in various sectors in Afghanistan”.
The Afghanistan Journalists Centre says that since the Taliban's return to power, freedom of expression and the media have been deteriorating alarmingly. Widespread censorship, a financial crisis, and the flight of hundreds of journalists has led to the shutdown of media outlets.
Private media are not allowed to broadcast music, films, and foreign series. Some sources say that "the newsrooms of some private media outlets are managed by the Taliban’s Intelligence, the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and the Taliban's Ministry of Culture”.
The Afghanistan Journalists Centre has also expressed concern about violence and the arbitrary detention of journalists.
