Two television channels in a northern province of Afghanistan have stopped showing images of living creatures, following orders from the moral police, journalists told AFP today.
In all media outlets in Tahar Province they were prohibited from filming living creatures and transmitting the images, said an official from the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Moral Decline (PVPV), who asked not to be named.
The ministry said on Monday it would gradually begin implementing a law banning media from using photos and videos of people and animals. The rules are included in the law recently announced by the Taliban government, which is implementing its own harsh interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) after taking power again in 2021.
Just logo and sound
A journalist told AFP that the private Mah-e-Naw channel in Tahar province only plays its logo and audio. Public television RTA broadcasts programs that still show faces and animals.
Journalists from Tahar province, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, said regional channels had reduced their productions following a meeting called by the PVPV on Sunday.
“The PVPV told all (television) channels that after this meeting they could report with audio, but they were not authorized to use images” that showed animals or people, said one journalist. “After that, journalists on state television and other regional media outlets were forced to comply,” he added.
Similar “meetings” have been held in recent days in at least two other provinces in Afghanistan, with ministry officials telling reporters that the law will be gradually implemented across the country.
Television and images of living creatures were banned nationwide during previous Taliban rule between 1996-2001.
Source: AMPE