Ever since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, countries across the globe have witnessed the continuous erasure of rights for Afghan citizens. While the militant organisation’s oppressive regime has primarily impacted the lives of women and girls, it’s evident that everyone in Afghanistan has felt the effects of their new morality laws. And now, the Taliban’s grip is tightening even more, with the introduction of some of its strictest orders yet.

According to The Independent, parts of the Taliban-run media have now been ordered to stop showing images of all living beings.

🇦🇫🚫 Taliban's Ministry of Morality has announced plans to pass a law prohibiting media from publishing images of any living beings. pic.twitter.com/tLdCH1tbGu

— ᴍᴏʜᴅ ᴛᴀʀɪꜰ (@The_Journalyze) October 16, 2024

Clarifying this new restriction as apart of the regime’s morality laws, spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry, Saif ul Islam Khyber, stated that government media in the provinces of Takhar, Maidan Wardak and Kandahar have been advised not to air or show images of anything with a soul—meaning people and animals.

As we already know, the journalism in Afghanistan is highly monitored. Moreover, the Taliban is well-known for its aversion to the press and the reporting in general, having banned most television, newspapers and radio during their rule in the 90s in fear of criticism that might destabilise their regime.

Back in August 2024, we saw in real-time the Taliban’s extreme intent on silencing Afghan women and girls and erasing them from public life.

New rules were put in place that required women to cover their bodies and faces completely if they leave the house. Moreover, their voices are not to be heard in public places. If their voices carry outside of their private homes, this is also considered illegal.

No other muslim countries have imposed such authoritarian restrictions on the media.

The West’s lack of action in Afghanistan has not gone without note. And it’s clear, now more than ever, that we are moving towards a state of acceptance—an abhorrent thought that makes the very idea of international human rights feel like a joke.

One particular quote that I’ve been seeing time and time again recently and that I feel is very apt at this moment comes from Hamida Aman, the founder of Begum TV, a Paris-based channel aimed at educating Afghan women and girls. In an interview not too long ago, Aman stated: “The only right we are allowed is to breathe.”