Taliban bans all images of living things in public under new laws

In August, the country’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice introduced regulations governing aspects of daily life, including public transport, shaving, media, and celebrations, in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

Article 17 of the new laws prohibits the publication of images of living beings, raising concerns about its implications for Afghan media and press freedom.

Saif ul Islam Khyber, a spokesman for the ministry, confirmed that state media in the provinces of Takhar, Maidan Wardak, and Kandahar had been instructed not to air or display images of anything with a soul, which includes people and animals.

Speaking to Associated Press, Khyber said the ministry was responsible for enforcing the morality laws. However, he did not clarify whether the rules applied to all media, including foreign outlets, or just Afghan broadcasters and websites. Nor did he provide details on how the laws would be enforced or whether a deadline had been set for compliance.

Hujjatullah Mujadidi, director of the Afghan Independent Journalists Union, said that ministry officials initially told state media to stop showing pictures and videos of living beings, a directive that was later extended to all media in those provinces.

“Last night, independent local media in some provinces also stopped broadcasting these videos and images, opting instead to show nature scenes,” Mujadidi said.

No other Muslim-majority country, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, imposes such restrictions. During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban had banned most forms of television, radio, and newspapers altogether.

Since 2021, Taliban officials have intermittently enforced censorship rules on business owners, requiring them to cover or alter images in line with their interpretation of Islamic law. These rules include defacing the faces of men and women on advertisements, covering shop mannequins’ heads with plastic bags, and blurring the eyes of fish shown on restaurant menus.

Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan after a two-decade insurgency against foreign-backed governments, the country had around 8,400 media employees. However, only 5,100 remain in the profession, according to media industry sources.

This number includes 560 women, who have faced the harshest restrictions. The United Nations has described the situation as “gender apartheid,” with female broadcasters being ordered to wear masks on television. In Helmand province, women’s voices have been banned entirely from television and radio.

Afghanistan has fallen dramatically in the global press freedom rankings, slipping from 122nd to 178th out of 180 countries, according to Reporters Without Borders.