KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has extended its ban on broadcasting images of living beings to central Bamyan province, bringing the total number of affected provinces to 15, a media watchdog has confirmed.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) said that local Taliban officials in Bamyan have ordered media outlets to stop broadcasting or publishing images of humans and animals. The directive, signed by Taliban governor for Bamyan Abdullah Sarhadi, also orders government departments not to take photographs or videos during official meetings.
The ban applies to all media operating in Bamyan, including state-run outlets such as National Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA) and the Bakhtar News Agency, as well as private stations Bamyan and Nasim Radio.
Similar restrictions have already been implemented in 14 other provinces, including Kandahar, Badakhshan, Helmand, Zabul, and Kunduz.
The restriction is part of the Taliban’s so-called Vice and Virtue law, which was signed in August 2024 by the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. The law gives sweeping authority to the Taliban’s morality police, who are authorized to monitor media and prohibit content they view as un-Islamic.
The AFJC warns that the ban has severely disrupted media operations. Several outlets have been forced to close, while others—particularly television stations—have either shifted to radio or sharply scaled back their activities.
The watchdog urged the Taliban to reverse the ban and lift all restrictions imposed on the press since the group’s return to power in August 2021.
Despite initial promises to respect Afghanistan’s Media Law, which prohibits censorship and government interference, the Taliban has since issued over 20 directives limiting media freedom. More than half of the country’s media outlets have closed, and many journalists have fled or gone into hiding.
Female journalists, in particular, have faced harsh new limits, including bans on broadcasting their voices and enforced gender segregation in newsrooms.
