United States has said it is with alarm and deep concern, learning of Taliban’s decision to stifle the Afghan people’s access to independent, objective, international media sources.
In a statement released by the State Department Spokesman, Ned Price on Monday as US and International community are paying close attention to the Taliban’s actions inside Afghanistan.
According to the statement, "Media outlets such as the Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutsche Welle have reported that their local broadcasting partners have been prevented from airing their programming in the country due to new, restrictive, and unpublished guidelines from the Taliban".
United States says it's committed to supporting the right of freedom of expression the world over, especially for journalists and human rights defenders, to operate freely without fear of violence against them.
Adding that this restrictive new media policy, the Taliban continued to move Afghanistan in the wrong direction by failing to uphold commitments they have made, including their March 23 decision to prevent girls from attending secondary school.
"Each of these actions alone is alarming, but combined, they make clear the Taliban are not living up to the essential commitments they made to the Afghan people and the international community", US said.
US noted that education and freedom of expression are human rights held by every person in Afghanistan.
"These are not Western values or concessions to the international community; they are human rights and essential to a peaceful and prosperous Afghan society, which is something the Taliban claim to desire".
US urged the Taliban to cease these infringements on the rights of Afghans, as United States continue to stand with the Afghan people.
Meanwhile, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has decided to ban the broadcasts of all international media telecasting through local media in Afghanistan.
BBC is the first international media in Afghanistan that stopped broadcasts on Sunday night, March 27, 2022.
BBC in a press release has asked the Taliban to reverse their decision and allow all their TV partners to return to BBC’s news bulletins to their airwaves immediately.
Along with BBC, DW and VOA are other two international media having been stopped by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have been discussing their rules and policies with the international media in Afghanistan for the past two months asking them to abide by their rules as other local TV channels do in Afghanistan.
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