The Taliban government leading Afghanistan has committed to banning the media from publishing images of living beings, stating that journalists in several provinces have been warned about the gradual enforcement of this measure, according to France Presse..
’The law applies throughout Afghanistan (…) and will be implemented gradually,’ said Saiful Islam Khyber, spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, arguing that images of living beings are against Islamic law.
This announcement comes after the Taliban authorities enacted a 35-article law for the ’promotion of virtue and prevention of vice’ among the population, in accordance with Sharia (Islamic law) imposed since their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The text contains several provisions targeting the media, including a ban on publishing images of living beings, ’content hostile to Sharia and religion,’ or that ’humiliates Muslims.’.
However, several aspects of this text have not yet been strictly enforced, and Taliban authorities continue to routinely publish photographs of people on social media.
Images of living beings had also been banned across the country between 1996 and 2001, during the previous period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
