October 2, 2024
Taleghan, Takhar Province – Taliban's vice and virtue department in Takhar province has banned filming officials' meetings and conducting video interviews, two months after implementing their vice and virtue law. AFJC urges the Taliban authorities to immediately revoke this prohibition and uphold media freedom as outlined in the country's Public Media Law.
A source within the province, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, disclosed to AFJC that this decision was enacted on September 25 by Habibullah Hanafi, head of the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Department during a provincial administrative meeting.
Authorities have issued strict directives for compliance with these new regulations. An audio recording obtained by AFJC features Hanafi reiterating that the filming prohibition aligns with a newly Vice and Virtue law endorsed law by Taliban Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. He stressed that henceforth, official reports from Taliban officials and employees must be submitted exclusively in written or audio formats.
Local reporters in Takhar have indicated that the enforcement of this ban is immediate and stringent, with Taliban officials actively preventing filming of their meetings and refusing to partake in any video interviews.
Takhar province now joins Kandahar—the Taliban's birthplace—as the second area to systematically prohibit the filming and video interviewing of local officials. This follows Kandahar’s suspension of broadcasts from the local branch of the state-run “National Television” station on September 2, amid the implementation of new vice and virtue laws that further constrain media content, including bans on images of living beings.
AFJC expresses grave concern regarding the issuance of this order that has implications for both media operations and public access to information within Takhar province are severe.
The Taliban intention to broaden such restrictive measures across other provinces under the vice and virtue law—already aggressively enforced throughout the past three years of Taliban governance—marks a troubling escalation of repressive tactics against the media. AFJC urges Taliban authorities to promptly revoke this prohibition and all other constraints on media freedom within the country. We call for respect for the fundamental rights of journalists and media institutions as enshrined in the country's media law.