New York, October 14, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Taliban authorities to immediately and unconditionally restore the FM radio transmissions of British public broadcaster BBC across Afghanistan, end the devastating crackdown on independent media, and cease restricting Afghan’s access to independent news and information.
On October 13, the Taliban confirmed that they had suspended BBC World Service programming from FM radio transmitters across Afghanistan, affecting the broadcaster’s Dari, Pashto, and English-language services, according to the BBC and news reports.
BBC said it continues to provide news and programming for Afghan audiences in the three languages through shortwave and medium-wave radio, satellite, and online services.
“By forcing BBC off Afghanistan’s FM broadcasts, the Taliban are further shrinking an already devastated space for independent journalism in the country,” said Waliullah Rahmani, CPJ’s Afghanistan and Pakistan representative. “The Taliban must immediately reverse the suspension, explain the legal basis for their action, and end their systematic obstruction of Afghans’ access to independent information.”
Khabib Ghufran, spokesperson for the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Information and Culture, said the BBC’s activities had been suspended “for the time being” because of what he described as “repeated violations,” without elaborating.
London-based broadcaster Afghanistan International reported, citing unnamed sources, that the Taliban’s dissatisfaction with a recent BBC documentary may have contributed to the decision.
In March 2022, Taliban authorities ordered local television stations to stop carrying local-language programming from international broadcasters, including the BBC, the U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America, and German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The order removed BBC television bulletins in Pashto, Persian, and Uzbek from Afghan partner stations.
In December 2022, authorities also removed Voice of America and U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from Afghanistan’s AM and FM networks, citing unspecified complaints about their programming.
The Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture did not respond to CPJ’s email seeking comment.