The Taliban administration asked female television presenters and other women on screen in Afghanistan to cover their faces.
Speaking to the BBC Pashto Service, a Taliban religious police official said the ban on the issue was communicated to media outlets in a decree sent on Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, the rule of wearing a veil outside was introduced for women in Afghanistan, and it was announced that those who did not comply would be punished.
Since the Taliban took over, it has been gradually increasing restrictions on women.
Women were forbidden to travel without a male relative with them, and secondary schools for girls were closed, although they had previously been announced to be opened.
Reuters news agency reported that the new decree will come into effect on May 21, citing the spokesperson of the Taliban government’s ministry of “Preventing Immorality and Promoting Virtue.”
The ministry spokesperson describes the rule that women cover their faces as “advice”, according to the agency; but there is no explanation as to what will happen to those who do not comply with the rule.
The latest decree faced heavy criticism on Twitter.
A social media user wrote, “The world uses masks to protect people from Covid. The Taliban imposes a mask rule to protect people from the faces of female journalists. According to the Taliban, women are a disease” wrote.
When the Taliban first came to power in the 1990s, they made it a rule for all women in the country to wear a burqa that completely covers their body and face outside the home.
When the Taliban was removed from power with the military intervention of the USA and its allies in 2001, a significant part of the restrictions on women were lifted, especially in the capital city of Kabul.
However, the influence of the Taliban continued in the rural areas of the country, where conservatism and male dominance were very strong, and women’s lives had not changed much.
