During a live broadcast of the Taliban Foreign Ministry’s annual press briefing on Wednesday, the voices of at least two female journalists who asked questions were muted by the state-run national television broadcaster.
The event, led by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, was aired live on state television. When two women — one from Agence France-Presse (AFP) and another from the local outlet Salam Watandar — directed questions to Muttaqi, their audio was cut. The broadcast resumed without interruption after they finished speaking.
The incident has drawn renewed attention to Taliban censorship practices and their treatment of women in media. Under the Taliban’s Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, enacted last year, a woman’s voice has been classified as “awrah” — a term used in conservative interpretations of Islamic law to denote something that should be concealed.
Wednesday’s broadcast continued without any further disruptions once male journalists resumed their questions.
After the Taliban’s morality law was enacted in August 2024, the Taliban-run RTA, National Radio Television, started avoiding the broadcast of women’s images, particularly foreign envoys and officials, including UNAMA chief, who met with Taliban officials.
Taliban have not commented publicly on the censorship, but the move follows a broader pattern of restrictions on Afghan women and girls, who are banned from secondary and higher education, barred from most employment, and prohibited from traveling without a male guardian. Female participation in public discourse, including journalism, has also come under increasing pressure.
This comes as Taliban have arrested dozens of women in Kabul over the past week over what they describe as violation of their dress code and lack of a male guardian.
