Dear FO° Reader,

Two weeks ago, the Taliban threatened to kill the parents of one of our authors, demanding that we pull down his articles.

The threat by the Taliban made us think deeply about our mission. What is our raison d’être? We look at the deeper issues behind the news, provide context and publish uniquely real perspectives from real people from around the world. We are a platform for voices outside the box that you would not hear elsewhere.

The Taliban threat put one of our principles in question. If we pulled down these pieces, would that set a bad precedent? Would other regimes take note and start threatening us to take down inconvenient pieces? Would right or left wing extremists turn on us?

There were many other questions that came to the fore. Is backing down under intimidation the right thing to do? Do we only publish articles from those safely secured from danger such as Sweden and Switzerland? Or confine ourselves to authors from countries where press freedom is respected?

These are not academic or philosophical questions. Countries such as China, Russia and Saudi Arabia have been threatening those who reside outside their borders. Non-state actors have been threatening authors too. We have been threatened on numerous occasions. We have ignored them and carried on.

This time, we backed down. We care deeply about the safety of our authors and their parents. We know the Taliban mean business. So, our hands were tied. Yet this has been a deeply painful decision that has given us sleepless nights.

To those of you who are at risk and want to publish with us, we suggest that you use pseudonyms. For our friends from Afghanistan, we want you to know that you are more than welcome to publish with us. We need your voices more than ever to shine the light on a fanatical, murderous and unjust regime.

Yours sincerely,

Atul Singh, Claire Price and Peter Isackson
Editorial Board of Fair Observer

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