According to Iraf, Hosseini Madani, Seddiqullah Tawhidi, and Seyyed Ahmad Mousavi Moballegh — three Afghan media analysts — have in three separate pieces examined Saad Mohseni’s activities and those of Moby Group during both the Republic period and the Taliban era.
Is Saad Mohseni Part of a Project?
Hosseini Madani, Afghan journalist and media activist, in an analysis titled “Is Saad Mohseni Part of a Larger Project?” wrote: Mohseni appeared less frequently in the media during the twenty years of the Republic, yet simultaneously operated at a level beyond that of a media activist through extensive connections with political circles and influential domestic and foreign figures.
He added that media outlets under his management — including Tolo, Tolo News, and other networks — were not merely tools of information dissemination but, in his view, played an important role in shaping public opinion and influencing political decision-making processes. Madani stressed that these networks, by virtue of their connections to power circles, had become part of Afghanistan’s political equations.
He continued by saying that this level of media influence has, in his view, made Mohseni not merely a media figure but an effective actor in the hidden layers of power — something that, he argues, is also observable in the analysis of these networks’ recent conduct.
Madani said that Mohseni’s connections with American actors, as well as his contacts with certain Taliban circles, reinforce the assumption that he is part of a complex network within Afghan politics. He added that the shift in this media group’s editorial approach toward the Taliban can be seen as a sign of a calculated repositioning of the role of media.
From Democracy to Lobbying for Terrorism
Seddiqullah Tawhidi, in his analysis titled “Saad Mohseni: From Democracy Advocacy to Lobbying for Taliban Terrorism,” wrote: following the fall of the Taliban, the media network under Mohseni’s management took shape with extensive international backing and rapidly became one of Afghanistan’s most prominent media outlets.
He added: these media outlets over the past two decades played a key role in expanding freedom of expression and promoting democratic discourse, but simultaneously serious debates have circulated about their financial and structural dependence on foreign projects. According to him, this dependence has in certain analyses been considered an influential factor affecting media independence.
He further stressed that this dependence is not merely a financial matter but, in critics’ view, can also influence the formation of political and editorial orientations — an issue that has again come to the fore today in the analysis of these media outlets’ new stances.
Tawhidi said that in recent years, Mohseni’s shifting positions toward the Taliban and on the situation of women have faced widespread criticism, with some characterizing it as a form of whitewashing the existing state of affairs. He added that this change of approach may extend beyond a personal viewpoint and could be analyzed within the framework of larger political and media transformations.
Don’t Criticize Saad Mohseni — Look at the Project
Seyyed Ahmad Mousavi Moballegh, editor-in-chief of the Atlas News Agency and political activist, in his analysis titled “Don’t Criticize Saad Mohseni — Look at the Project,” wrote focusing on Mohseni as an individual without attending to the macro-structure of power and media in Afghanistan presents an incomplete picture of reality.
He added that media outlets under his management have over more than two decades played an important role in managing public opinion and shaping political narratives, and for this reason Mohseni’s recent statements cannot be regarded as merely a personal opinion. In his view, these remarks are comprehensible within the framework of extensive media and political relations.
He continued by saying that this type of analysis gains greater significance when attention is paid to the history of these media outlets’ engagement with foreign actors and their role in Afghanistan’s political transformations — something that, in his view, demonstrates that media narratives are not always independent of power structures.
Mousavi Moballegh said that given the history of these media outlets’ cooperation with Western actors, as well as the complex political connections in Afghanistan, it is likely that Mohseni’s recent statements form part of a deliberate narrative shift regarding the country’s situation. He added that under such circumstances, rather than focusing solely on the individual, attention must be directed toward the structures behind these narratives.
