Women in Afghanistan are prohibited from participating in television dramas under new rules by the Taliban government.
Journalists and presenters are also instructed to wear a headscarf when on screen. Although the guidelines don’t say what type of coverage should be used.
Reporters say some of the rules are not clear and can be interpreted.
The Taliban took power in Afghanistan in mid-August, and many fear that they will gradually impose more onerous restrictions.
The militant Islamist group, which took control after US and Allied forces withdrew, ordered girls and young women to stay home from school immediately. During the previous administration in the 1990s, women were excluded from education and employment.
The latest Taliban guidelines for Afghan television channels contain eight new rules. These include banning films deemed to violate Afghanistan’s Sharia – or Islamic laws, and values, while banning footage of men showing intimate parts of their bodies.
Comedy and entertainment that violates religion or may be deemed offensive to Afghans are also prohibited. The Taliban demanded that foreign films promoting foreign cultural values not be shown.
Afghan television channels mainly broadcast foreign dramas with female protagonists. A member of the organization representing journalists in Afghanistan, Khujatullah Mujadedi, said the announcement of the new restrictions was unexpected.
He told the BBC that some of the rules were impractical, and if implemented. TV operators could be forced to close. The Taliban’s previous decision to bar girls. And young women from attending school made Afghanistan the only country in the world that blocked half its population from accessing education.
The mayor of the capital, Kabul, also urged community officials to stay at home unless a man could fill their posts. The Taliban claim their restrictions on working women and student girls are “temporary. And only in place to ensure that all workplaces and learning environments are “safe” for them.