In yet another assault on freedom of expression, the Taliban’s court in Balkh province has issued a decree prohibiting the publication of images of living beings — humans and animals alike. The order has ignited widespread outrage among journalists, media workers, and defenders of free expression.
The move is part of the Taliban’s ongoing campaign to suffocate art, culture, and journalism since their return to power in August 2021. Step by step, the group has narrowed the already fragile space for Afghan media, pushing it toward silence.
Local journalists describe the decree as “the death of media activity.” One reporter in Balkh told Zan News: “Erasing faces is like erasing people themselves. How can we report on war, poverty, or even moments of joy without images?”
The ban spans across almost every form of visual media — from photographs and portraits to television documentaries, reports from markets, schools, and even religious programs. It remains unclear whether the order also applies to archival material or foreign content.
This latest restriction comes after months of mounting pressure on local outlets to censor women’s faces, cut music, and engage in strict self-censorship. The Taliban justify their actions under a rigid, Salafi-inspired interpretation of Sharia. Yet critics argue that the real goal is not religious purity but political control — to erase diversity, stifle dissent, and monopolize narratives.
A media analyst in Kabul summed it up: “The Taliban are systematically cleansing Afghanistan’s visual identity — at a time when images are the world’s first language of communication.”
Erasing Faces, Erasing Society
The decree banning images in Balkh signals more than a restriction on journalism; it is a symbolic erasure of human presence itself. Instead of rebuilding Afghanistan, the Taliban are dragging it back into darkness — where voices are silenced, faces disappear, and the nation is left without a mirror to its own reality.
