The Taliban government of Afghanistan pledged, on Monday, October 14, to prohibit the media from publishing images of living beings, adding that journalists in several provinces had been warned about the gradual application of this measure. “The law applies throughout Afghanistan (…) and will be implemented gradually”Saiful Islam Khyber, spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told Agence France-Presse (AFP), arguing that the images of living beings were against Islamic law.
Taliban authorities enacted a thirty-five-article law over the summer to “promote virtue and prevent vice” among the population, in accordance with Sharia (Islamic law) imposed by them since their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. “Coercion has no place in law enforcement”declared the PVPV. “It is simply about giving advice and convincing people that these things are really against Sharia and should be avoided. »
The text contains several measures aimed at the media, including a ban on publishing images of living beings, as well as “Content hostile to sharia and religion” or who “humiliate Muslims”. However, several aspects of this text have not yet been strictly implemented and Taliban authorities continue to regularly post photographs of people on social media.
“So far, efforts are being made in many provinces to implement the articles of the law related to the media, but this has not started in all provinces”Mr. Khyber said. He added that “the work has begun” in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar (south), and in the provinces of Helmand (southwest) and Takhar (northeast).
Local journalists summoned
Journalists in Kandahar told AFP on Monday that they had not received any statement from the ministry and had not yet been detained by morality police for taking photographs or videos.
On Sunday, in the central province of Ghazni, PVPV officials summoned local journalists and told them that morality police would gradually begin enforcing the law.
They advised image journalists to take photographs from further away and film less so they could “get used”a journalist who did not want to give his name for fear of reprisals told AFP. At a similar meeting, journalists in the central province of Wardak were also informed that this rule would be implemented gradually.
Images of living beings were banned throughout the country when it was ruled by Taliban authorities between 1996 and 2001, but a similar large-scale decree had yet to be imposed since its return to power in 2021.
When the Taliban returned, Afghanistan had 8,400 media employees, including 1,700 women. Only 5,100 remain, including 560 women, according to sector sources. Dozens of media outlets were closed and Afghanistan went from 122 in three yearsmy at 178my among the 180 positions in the ranking of the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on press freedom.
