A Afghan news anchor wore a facemask in 2022 to protest about women having to cover their faces on TV – now media is being told no living images can be broadcast at all (Picture: AP)
Taliban-run media have stopped showing images of living beings in some Afghan provinces after a bizarre new law was introduced.
The law, published by the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry in August, bans the publication or broadcast of images of anything considered to have a soul, which includes animals.
So far, Taliban run media in the provinces of Takhar, Maidan Wardak and Kandahar have been advised to follow the rule and have complied, ministry spokesman Saif ul Islam Khyber confirmed.
The ban has sparked concerns about the consequences it will have for Afghan media and press freedom.
Khyber did not clarify if the rules affected all media, including foreign outlets, or only Afghan channels and websites.
He also didn’t explain whether laws would be enforced or if there was a deadline to comply.
It’s not clear how the media ban will be enforced or if there is a deadline to comply (Picture: AP)
Hujjatullah Mujadidi, the director of the Afghan Independent Journalists Union, said that Vice and Virtue Ministry officials initially told state media to stop running pictures and videos of living beings. This request was later extended to all media in those provinces.
‘Last night, independent local media (in some provinces) also stopped running these videos and images and are instead broadcasting nature videos,’ Mr Mujadidi said.
During the Taliban’s previous rule in the late 1990s, the group banned most television, radio and newspapers altogether.
Other laws introduced in August included the ban on women reading or singing in public.
Women are no longer allowed to show their faces in public (Picture: AFP or licensors)
They must also veil their face and body at all times in public, and only wear loose fitting clothing to avoid tempting others and not look at men who they are not related or married to. The men in turn are also forbidden to look at women.
Ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq said at the time: ‘Inshallah we assure you that this Islamic law will be of great help in the promotion of virtue and the elimination of vice.’
No other Muslim-majority country imposes similar restrictions, including Iran and Saudi Arabia.
A UN report in July said the ministry was contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans, especially women and girls.
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Source:: Metro
