KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban have prohibited the publication of children’s photos on social media platforms, including YouTube, X, Facebook, and Instagram, in Ghor province, according to local sources who shared a copy of an official Taliban directive with Amu TV.
The directive, issued by the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture under document number 2063, states: “Based on the decision of the joint committee of Emirate (Taliban) and non-Emirate departments on child protection, publishing or broadcasting images of innocent children on mass media platforms, such as YouTube, X, Facebook, and other channels that harm their dignity, is prohibited.”
Taliban justified the decision by accusing some media outlets of being “biased” and claimed that reports about children are presented in ways that “harm the child’s dignity and family reputation and put the child’s life at risk.”
The directive also extends to YouTubers and other media professionals in Ghor, ordering them to refrain from sharing photos of children on their social media accounts.
This latest ban is part of a broader pattern of media restrictions imposed by the Taliban. In their new morality law announced in AUgust, the Taliban prohibited the broadcasting of images of living beings, based on which, broadcasts of TV networks were stopped in at least six provicnes.
Media advocacy organizations have criticized these measures, describing them as an expansion of censorship that further restricts the flow of information in Afghanistan.
The Public Media Law, enacted by the previous government in 2007, prohibits the publication of materials and content that harm the psychological well-being and moral health of individuals in society, especially children and adolescents.
