RFE/RL serves as a surrogate free press in countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. It maintains 20 local bureaus, but authoritarian governments often attempt to obstruct the radios' activities through a range of tactics, including extensive jamming, shutting down local re-broadcasting affiliates, or finding legal excuses to close down offices.[46]  In many of these countries, RFE/RL is often the first and most reliable source of domestic news for citizens.
The safety of RFE/RL's journalists and freelancers, who often risk their lives to broadcast balanced and reliable information to their listeners and readers, has been a major concern throughout RFE/RL's broadcast history and continues to be a major issue as reporters are threatened and persecuted on a regular basis. RFE/RL also faces a number of central security concerns including cyberterrorist attacks and general terrorist threats. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, American and Czech authorities agreed to move RFE/RL's Prague headquarters away from the city center in order to make it less vulnerable to terrorist attack. On February 19, 2009 RFE/RL began broadcasting from its new state-of-the-art headquarters located east of the city center.


RFE/RL continues to struggle with authoritarian regimes for permission to broadcast freely within their countries. Starting January 1, 2009, Azerbaijan has imposed a ban on all foreign media in the country, including RFE/RL. Kyrgyzstan  has also suspended broadcasts of Radio Azattyk, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz language service, requesting that the government be able to pre-approve its programming. Other states such as Belarus, Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan prohibit re-broadcasting to local stations, making programming difficult for average listeners to access.
In 2008, Afghan president Hamid Karzai urged his government to provide assistance to a rape victim after listening to her story on Radio Azadi, RFE/RL's Afghan service. Radio Azadi is currently the most popular radio station in Afghanistan, and Afghan listeners mail in hundreds of hand-written letters to the station each month.
In September 2009, RFE/RL announced that it would begin new Pashto-language broadcasting to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
In October 2009, RFE/RL introduced a daily, one-hour Russian-language broadcast to the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The program, called Ekho Kavkaza (Echo of the Caucasus), focuses on local and international news and current affairs, and is organized in coordination with RFE/RL's Georgian Service.
On January 15, 2010, RFE/RL began broadcasting to the Pashtun tribal areas of Pakistan in Pashto. The service, known as Radio Mashaal, was created in an attempt to counter the growing number of "pirate" Islamic extremist radio stations broadcasting in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. These pirate stations broadcast pro-Taliban propaganda as well as fatwas (religious edicts) by radical, pro-Taliban clerics.
Radio Mashaal broadcasts local and international news with in-depth reports on terrorism, politics, women's issues, and health care (with an emphasis on preventive medicine). The station features roundtable discussions and interviews with tribal leaders and local policymakers in addition to regular call-in programs.

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