In Afghanistan, the Taliban forced TV presenters to go live with their faces covered, despite protests

After making a brief insurgency, TV presenters in Afghanistan were forced to cover their faces when they aired on Sunday, in line with a decision by the Taliban regime requiring all Afghan women to cover their faces when in public.

The general requirement to cover the face in public has been issued in advance this month By the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, women were required to cover their bodies from head to toe, including the face. The ministry advised the wearing of the burqa, but made no mention of the mandatory items. This imposition has not yet been respected in most television programmes, where women are shown covered with their heads but their faces are visible.

However, on Saturday, the ministry issued a new statement extending the obligation to cover the face also to presenters, with immediate effect.

At first, on the same day, the presenters rebelled: many of them continued to broadcast on the air with their faces uncovered. But the regime began, on Sunday, to put pressure on television channels, threatening to remove broadcasters from programs or expel them if they did not obey, and that the same would happen to their male colleagues. So most of the presenters were forced to obey, and on Sunday she went on the air with her face covered.

The International Energy Agency has recommended Shamshad Radio and Television officials that female presenters hide their faces during news and other programmes. pic.twitter.com/K92qwC7fVd

– Shamshad News (@Shamshadnetwork) May 19, 2022

However, there were some instances of resistance and solidarity. On TOLO News, one of Afghanistan’s most liberal television channels, male broadcasters began airing Sunday with their faces covered with a surgical mask, in solidarity with their colleagues and channel management. protest publicly against the imposition of the Taliban.

TOLOnews and other TV channels in Kabul on Sunday followed the orders of the Ministry of Virtue and Virtue regarding covering the faces of female presenters.
The Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced Sunday morning a deadline, and called this order mandatory … 1/3#TOLOnews pic.twitter.com/8ijXGWSjJj

– TOLOnews (TOLOnews) May 22 2022