The publication of live images in Sar-i-Pul was also banned.
Following the Taliban’s widespread media restrictions, Sar-i-Pul province has officially joined the list of areas where the publication of live images is banned;
The decision has raised concerns about the systematic suppression of freedom of expression.
The Afghanistan Press Center announced on Sunday that the Taliban’s Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil Department has banned the broadcast of live images in Sar-i-Pul and the province’s national television has become a radio station.
According to the report, other local media outlets are also not allowed to publish live images even on their official social media pages. With this move, Sar-i-Pul is the 20th province of Afghanistan to be officially subject to this type of media censorship.
The Afghanistan Press Center strongly criticized the Taliban’s decision, calling it against the fundamental principles of freedom of expression and free media, warning that the restrictions would severely damage people’s access to free, transparent and factual information.
The Taliban, based on their own interpretation of the law of enjoining good and forbidding evil, consider the publication of images of human beings “illegal” and are expanding this strict policy across the country.
This comes as the country’s media community, especially in the provinces, is under increasing pressure; The media space, once a symbol of dynamism and freedom, is now unprecedentedly subject to enforced silence and self-censorship.
