Amnesty International has condemned the Taliban’s ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and the media in Afghanistan, accusing the group of detaining and torturing journalists while imposing harsh restrictions on media outlets.

In a statement issued on Saturday to mark World Press Freedom Day, the human rights organisation stated that the Taliban have placed Afghanistan among the world’s worst countries in terms of press freedom.

Since the Taliban’s return to power, numerous media outlets have been forced to suspend operations for criticising the group’s policies, according to Amnesty. The organisation reported that the banning of political television programmes, restrictions on analysts and journalists working with exiled media, the arbitrary detention of journalists, and the silencing of independent voices have all contributed to Afghanistan’s plummeting ranking in global press freedom indices.

Amnesty also criticised the Taliban’s enforcement of the so-called vice and virtue laws, including a ban on broadcasting images of “living beings,” which has severely curtailed media production and freedom of expression.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, and several international organisations echoed these concerns, condemning the Taliban’s repression of media workers. UNAMA reported that journalists and media professionals face threats, arbitrary detention, and torture, warning that such restrictions combined with the country’s deepening economic crisis are depriving the Afghan public of access to critical information.