RASC News Agency: Afghanistani journalists, now in exile across Europe and North America, have expressed profound concern over the recent ratification of the Taliban’s “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” law by their leader. They have urgently appealed to the United Nations to take immediate action to prevent the enforcement of this draconian legislation. In a statement released on Friday, 23rd August, these journalists underscored that the new law further tightens the already oppressive restrictions on media operations within Afghanistan.
According to the law, the Taliban have tasked their “Muhtasibs” enforcers of moral conduct with ensuring that media outlets strictly conform to the newly established “virtues.” Specifically, the law prohibits the publication of images depicting living beings and criminalizes the visibility of women’s faces, voices, and bodies in public spaces.
Exiled Afghanistani journalists have issued a stark warning that this measure will lead to the complete eradication of women from visual and auditory media platforms. The Taliban had previously imposed severe constraints on the presence and portrayal of female journalists. Since the Taliban’s return to power, domestic media have faced rampant censorship and constant threats. However, with the enforcement of this new law, freedom of expression in Afghanistan will be formally and irrevocably extinguished.
It is widely recognized that dictatorial and totalitarian regimes universally oppose freedom of speech and the press. Yet, over the past three years, the Taliban regime has shown a level of antagonism towards these freedoms that far exceeds that of even the most notorious dictators throughout history.
