Two television channels in northern Afghanistan have stopped broadcasting images of living creatures in implementation of orders from the morality police, according to what journalists told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday.
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Officials at the Ministry of Public Health told AFP on condition of anonymity on Tuesday that all media outlets in Takhar province were banned from taking pictures of the living creatures and broadcasting them.
On Monday, the PVP Party announced that it had begun the gradual implementation of a law prohibiting media outlets from using photos and videos of people and animals.
These rules are part of legislation recently announced by the Afghan Taliban government to implement its strict interpretations of Islamic law imposed since it came to power in 2021.
An Agence France-Presse journalist in Takhar province said that the private “Mah-Now” channel on Tuesday evening showed only its logo along with the audio broadcast.
Public broadcaster RTA broadcasts national programmes, which continue to feature people and animals, rather than the usual provincial evening news.
Takhar journalists, who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation, said regional radio stations restricted their production after a meeting called by the PVP on Sunday.
“The PVPV ordered all regional (TV) media in Takhar that after the meeting, they can submit radio reports but cannot use images” including live objects, on pain of legal action, an AFP journalist said.
“After that, journalists from national television and other regional media will be forced to comply,” he added.
In recent days, PVPV officials have held meetings in at least two other provinces to inform journalists that the law will be gradually implemented across the country.
Television and images of living creatures were banned across the country under the former Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, but the decree has not yet been widely enforced since their return to power.
