The Taliban government in Afghanistan has introduced new rules banning women from playing television in dramas and preventing journalists and broadcasters from working without headgear.
However, the regulations do not specify which headgear is involved.
Journalists point out that some of the rules are vague and open to different interpretations.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August, shortly after the last US troops left the country. The Taliban almost immediately banned girls and young women from attending school, and the mayor of Kabul ordered municipal workers to stay home if they could be replaced by men at work.
During the previous Taliban rule, women were banned from studying and working in the 1990s.
The Taliban have now come up with eight rules governing the presence of women on television.
These include films that violate Sharia law, secular law and Afghan values. Men are not allowed on television to show intimate parts of the body, and comedies and shows that insult religion or may be seen as insulting Afghans are prohibited.
The Taliban have also advised TV channels not to broadcast foreign films that promote foreign cultural values.
Afghan TV channels have so far broadcast mostly foreign dramas with women in the lead roles.
A spokesman for the Afghan journalists’ organization told the BBC the Taliban’s announcement was unexpected. He pointed out that several of the new rules were impractical and that broadcasters might have to stop working under them.
The Taliban say restrictions on women ‘s and girls’ education and employment are temporary measures to ensure that all jobs and schools are safe for women. However, the Taliban made similar claims during their previous rule, but did not lift the restrictions.
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