Two television stations in northern Afghanistan have stopped broadcasting images of living creatures in accordance with moral police orders, journalists said yesterday.
All media in Takhar province are banned from photographing the living creatures and broadcasting them, officials from the Taliban's Ministry of Propaganda and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) told AFP on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
PVPV announced yesterday that it is starting to progressively apply the law that prohibits the media from using photos and videos of people and animals.
The rules are part of a law recently introduced by the Taliban government, enforcing its strict interpretations of Islamic law imposed after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. This government is not recognized by any country in the world.
An AFP reporter in Takhar province said the private channel Mah-e-Nav showed only its logo last night, with audio clips broadcast.
The public broadcaster RTA broadcasts national programs, which continue to show people and animals, but there is no evening news from the Afghan provinces.
Journalists from Takhar, who requested anonymity for fear of Taliban reprisals, said provincial broadcasters had curtailed their production following a meeting called by the PVPV on Sunday.
"The PVPV told all the regional (television) media in Takhar that after the meeting they could make radio reports, but not use pictures," including those of living creatures, under threat of prosecution, one journalist told AFP, adding: " After that, all journalists of national television and other regional media will be forced to obey."
In recent days, PVPV officials have held meetings in at least two more provinces to inform reporters that the law will be gradually implemented across the country.
Television and animation were banned in Afghanistan by the previous Taliban regime, from 1996 to 2001.
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