KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has expanded its ban on broadcasting images of living beings to Daykundi and Faryab provinces, according to a media watchdog.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) said the ban, issued by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, now implemented in 17 out of the country’s 34 provinces.
Local media in Daykundi and Faryab have reportedly been ordered to stop broadcasting any images of living beings, with warnings of consequences for non-compliance. The ban affects both private outlets and state-run broadcasters, including the National Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA).
Similar restrictions have already been imposed in 15 other provinces, including Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Badakhshan, and Bamyan, according to the AFJC.
The ban is part of the Taliban’s enforcement of the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, signed by the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, in August 2024. The law grants broad powers to the Taliban’s morality police to monitor and censor media content deemed un-Islamic.
Media outlets have reported significant disruption as a result. Several television stations have closed or switched to radio-only broadcasts to stay operational.
The AFJC has called on the Taliban to lift the ban and roll back wider restrictions imposed on the press since the group returned to power in 2021.
Despite initial pledges to uphold Afghanistan’s Media Law, which bars censorship and government interference, the Taliban has issued more than 20 directives curbing media freedom. Over half of the country’s media outlets have shut down, and many journalists have fled or gone into hiding.
