14 JUNE 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL RFE/RL’s Afghanistan service, Radio Azadi, was first broadcast in the Dari and Pashto languages during the fighting in the 1980s. After a hiatus, it picked up again in 2002 to keep people in the loop through all the conflicts and crises. RFE/RL and VOA have never just been broadcasters. They’ve been lifelines. In countries where freedom of the press doesn’t exist—Afghanistan, Iran, China, Russia, and other authoritarianstyle governing powers—these outlets remain trusted sources of accurate, independent information. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Afghanistan’s once-vibrant media has been silenced. The United Nations reports that hundreds of media outlets have disappeared. Journalists have been imprisoned, tortured, and even killed. Women’s voices have been erased from the mainstream media. Radio Azadi and VOA remain the only recourse for women in Afghanistan who want to tell their stories and see themselves reflected in international conversations. To cut off these services now betrays those women and hands a victory to the Taliban. The vacuum will likely be filled by authoritarian state media narratives and disinformation. It is not just about losing radio and TV stations; it’s about losing freedom of thought. It will not “fix” anything—it just torches a tool that has been working well for decades. Closing these stations isn’t just a bad move; it is a gut punch to free speech and what America stands for. As the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Shutting RFE/RL and VOA is a giant step toward unraveling democracy and abandoning our credibility as a role model for free speech in a free world. n
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=