Local Taliban officials in Takhar province have banned photography and filming of meetings and local government employees, according to a statement from the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AfJC) on Wednesday.
This directive was implemented two months after the ratification of the Taliban’s law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which prohibits the publication of images of living beings, AfJC said.
The media watchdog reported that the decision was announced on September 25 during an administrative meeting by Takhar’s vice and virtue chief, Mullah Habibullah Hanafi.
He stated that the photography ban stems from the newly ratified morality law and insisted that all local government officials and employees must comply, according to the statement. Hanafi also said that reports from Taliban offices must be prepared only in written or audio format.
Following the announcement, Taliban officials have barred filming of their meetings and are avoiding video interviews, according to the AfJC.
This is not the first instance of such restrictions; a similar ban was issued in February in Kandahar.
The new morality law also imposes limitations on media outlets and journalists. Notably, Article 17 assigns the vice and virtue police the responsibility of preventing the publication of content featuring images of living beings.
The AfJC has expressed serious concern over this directive, urging Taliban leadership to reconsider this regressive decision, as it poses significant risks to media operations and citizens’ access to information.
