Date: 20/09/1403

Kandahar: Local sources in Kandahar say that the Taliban's virtue officers have declared women's use of smartphones "haram" in this province. Taliban virtue officers have warned men in the province to prohibit their wives from using smartphones, sources said Tuesday (December 11). The Taliban have noted that women's use of smartphones leads them "astray". Virtue officials have announced the decision in a number of mosques in Kandahar. It is worth mentioning that two days ago, the head of the Taliban's Office for the Promotion of Virtue in Takhar forbade shopkeepers from talking to women.

The declaration by virtue officers of the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Kandahar Province that women’s use of smartphones is “haram,” accompanied by public mosque announcements and instructions to men to police their wives, represents an escalation of gender-based surveillance and control. By framing women’s access to communication technology as morally deviant, the Taliban further isolate women from information, social networks, services, and livelihoods. This measure reinforces enforced dependency on male guardians and extends moral policing into digital life.