Taliban authorities in Kandahar have introduced new restrictions for local radio stations, including a total ban on women’s voices, according to media watchdog the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AfJC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AfJC said a directive issued March 17 from the Taliban\u2019s provincial Directorate of Information and Culture mandates all broadcasters reference Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada with specific honorific titles, such as \u201cHis Excellency, Amir al-Mu\u2019minin, May God protect him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also requires the term \u201cIslamic Emirate\u201d be used when mentioning the Taliban rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It explicitly prohibits airing women’s voices in entertainment and advertisements and bans ads for medications, cosmetics, and health clinics without prior approval from the provincial health department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it stated all journalists must seek permission from the local directorate before news-gathering or reporting in Kandahar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AfJC said restrictions on broadcasting women\u2019s voices have been in place informally in Kandahar, but this is the province\u2019s first official and total ban, making it the second such province after Helmand to implement such measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The organization warned that local media, including the 11 private radio stations still remaining, are at risk with the increasing censorship and this latest crackdown could severely harm their survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AfJC added that there are also negative psychological impacts of such media repression across Afghan society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taliban authorities in Kandahar have introduced new restrictions for local radio stations, including a total ban on women’s voices, according to media watchdog the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AfJC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"single_blog_custom":"","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":"","sponsored_post_label":"","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[900,9581],"tags":[11063,9474],"class_list":["post-32671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-our-work-en","tag-media-restrictions-en","tag-womens-voices"],"yoast_head":"\n