As per the new guidelines of the Taliban that female Afghan TV anchors and presenters are not allowed to show their faces while on air.
Media outlets were told of the order on Wednesday, a religious police spokesman stated.
The new regulations came after two weeks. All women were ordered to wear a face mask in public or risk punishment.
Many restrictions are imposed on women like they are banned from travelling without a male guardian, and secondary schools are shut to girls.
According to one female Afghan journalist working for a local TV station in Kabul, who did not reveal her name, she’d been shocked when she heard this latest news.
She added: “They’re putting indirect pressure on us to stop us presenting on TV.”
#AFG A powerful message from an Afghan woman (TOlo TV Host) that needs reflection: This is me, Yalda Ali, a woman -on verge of being eliminated by the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue. We are required to appear like this, hereafter. @bsarwary pic.twitter.com/Gjjhgm0wJf
— Wali Arian (@waliarian) May 19, 2022
“It is not easy to read news with the face cover mask. I do not have any idea what to do now- But I need to do work because I am the breadwinner of my family”. The new rule will take effect from 21 May, as per reports, quoting a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue.
The spokesman directed the ruling as “advice” – it is unclear what will happen to anyone who fails to comply.
As per reports, the law has been issued to all the media houses in Afghanistan.
However, no one in the Taliban is supporting this decision, and it is being widely criticised on Twitter, with many hailing it another step by the Taliban to promote extremism.
“The globe deploys masks to protect people from Covid. The Taliban deploys masks to save people from seeing the faces of women journalists. For the Taliban, women are a disorder,” one activist tweeted.
One of the private news channels, Shamshad posted a photo of its news anchors wearing a mask, and other similar images are also being shared on all social media platforms.