Why the Taliban are banning 'living beings' on TV

DW (English)

The Taliban have ordered TV channels in parts of Afghanistan to cease broadcasting images of living beings, after already banning music and female faces on screen.

Transcript

00:00If you turn on the TV in some parts of Afghanistan, you might just see a logo or empty summary.

00:07This is because the Taliban's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention

00:12of Violence has ordered a ban on all living beings appearing on the screen.

00:17The privately owned Mahinao TV channel in northern Takhar province is now showing only

00:22its logo along with an audio broadcast.

00:26Journalists who spoke to DW said that other TV channels have been ordered to follow Mahinao's lead.

00:56Since taking power in 2021, the militant Islamist group have imposed increasingly harsh restrictions

01:12based on their extremely conservative interpretation of Islam.

01:17The Taliban have already banned music and media broadcasts, and they also are barring

01:23women from showing their faces on TV.

01:26The order is not yet in place across the country.

01:29In the capital Kabul, media organisations, including those under Taliban control, continue

01:36their broadcasts with people as usual.

01:39Journalists are concerned that the group could gradually expand the ban to Kabul and other

01:44provinces.

01:45For now, there is another place the Taliban don't yet control, the internet, the last

01:52resort for many Afghan citizens, wanting to bypass their draconian restrictions.

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