Afghanistan ranked 175th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, scoring 19.51 points.
Among the countries surveyed, only North Korea, China, Eritrea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia ranked lower than Afghanistan.
Afghanistan ranked 158th in the political indicator of the World Press Freedom Index, 165th in the economic indicator, and 178th in the legal indicator.
The country ranked 175th in the social indicator and 177th in the security indicator.
Although Afghanistan’s score increased by 1.63 points compared with 2025, its overall ranking remained unchanged.
Reporters Without Borders said in its report that the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan marked the end of press freedom and journalist safety in the country, particularly for women journalists.
Domestic media outlets are now required to publish information controlled by the regime, and the country’s media landscape has been stripped of pluralism and dissenting voices.
Reporters Without Borders said the crackdown on journalists has steadily intensified.
According to the report, 43 percent of Afghanistan’s media outlets disappeared within three months of the Taliban’s return to power. More than two-thirds of the 12,000 journalists who were working in the country in 2021 have left the profession. Eight out of every 10 women journalists have been forced to stop working.
Only a limited number of women journalists are still working, and they face restrictions including limited access to official sources, travel restrictions, and bans on appearing on camera.
