Date: 25/10/1403

Local sources in Herat Province report that the Taliban have ordered female journalists not to read news on television. Sources confirmed on Tuesday, January 14, that the directive was issued to media outlets by the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat.

According to these sources, the Taliban justified the ban by claiming that women’s voices “instigate” and “provoke men” in society. Media organizations were warned not to violate the order, though no official public statement has been issued by Taliban authorities.

Since the Taliban takeover, female journalists have faced escalating restrictions, alongside broader bans imposed on women and girls, including prohibitions on education beyond grade six, employment, sports, travel, and recreation.

The prohibition imposed by the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat barring women from reading news on television constitutes a direct act of gender-based censorship. By portraying women’s voices as morally dangerous, the Taliban legitimize the silencing of women in public communication and normalize their exclusion from journalism. This measure reinforces a broader system of enforced invisibility in which women are systematically removed from public discourse, professional life, and information production.