Taliban Imposes Ban on Images of Living Beings in Afghan Media

The Taliban has reportedly begun implementing a ban prohibiting certain media outlets from airing “images of living beings.”

A source confirmed the news to the Associated Press on Tuesday. The militant group, through its Vice and Virtue Ministry, is currently enforcing the rule in several provinces. It remains unclear when or if it will apply to all media outlets nationwide, including foreign media.

This new rule reflects laws announced by the Vice and Virtue Ministry in August, which also banned women’s voices and bare faces. The legislation marks the first declaration of such rules in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover following the withdrawal of US forces.

Article 17 of the legislation, approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, bans the publication of any images depicting living beings.

Vice and Virtue Ministry spokesman Saif ul Islam Khyber confirmed that media in the Afghan provinces of Maidan Wardak, Kandahar and Takhar have been advised not to show images of anything with a soul.

Aghan Independent Journalists Union director Hujjatullah Mujadidi reported that state media was directly told not to air such images by the ministry. This directive was subsequently extended to all media in the provinces.

“Last night, independent local media (in some provinces) also stopped running these videos and images and are instead broadcasting nature videos,” Mujadidi said.

Afghanistan is the only Muslim-majority country enforcing this broadcasting rule. The extremity of the legislation announced by the Vice and Virtue Ministry has caused international concern, particularly regarding the laws pertaining to women.

The Vice and Virtue Ministry deemed that women’s voices were considered too “intimate” and banned women from singing or reading aloud in public. The legislation also requires women to wear veils in public.