The Taliban, which controls Afghanistan, announced on Monday a gradual ban on the publication of images of living beings in the media. Authorities confirmed that journalists from several provinces have already received warnings. This was reported by the France Presse agency.
“The law will apply throughout Afghanistan and will be implemented gradually,” said Saiful Islam Khyber, spokesman for the Ministry of Virtue Promotion and Prevention. He explained that publishing images of living beings is against Islamic law (sharia).
The announcement comes after the authorities passed a new 35-article law this summer aimed at “promoting virtue and preventing vices” among the population in accordance with Shariah, which was introduced after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
The law provides for a number of restrictions on the media, including a ban on publishing images of living beings, content that contradicts Sharia and religion, or humiliates Muslims.
However, many of the provisions of this law are not strictly enforced, and the Taliban themselves continue to regularly publish photos of people on social media. It is worth noting that a ban on images of living beings was already in place in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, when the Taliban were also in power.
