Television journalists in Afghanistan have started covering their faces on-air in recent days — some by force and others by choice.
Taliban officials announced earlier this month that all women and girls must leave home only when necessary and wear head-to-toe clothing when out in public.
These are among the harshest restrictions the group has introduced since returning to power in August — and a seeming confirmation of many Afghans' fears that the Taliban hadn't changed much since the last time they ruled from the mid-1990s to 2001.
The Taliban went a step further on Thursday by specifically ordering female TV news anchors to cover their faces while on air.
The decree only affected a handful of women who work as television presenters in Afghanistan, but it triggered a large social media response.
That was perhaps because the decree dealt a powerful blow to a visible, symbolic mark of progress Afghans had made in two decades of Western-backed rule: women on television, authoritatively presenting information.
A leading Afghan human rights activist who now lives in exile said the Taliban's micropolicing of women in a country grappling with multiple humanitarian emergencies provided an insight into the Taliban's worldview.
"In one of the poorest countries in the world, a country where children are regularly victims of explosive remains of war, a country still battling polio, not a campaign against hunger, explosives, disease, but one against women. Taliban priorities. #Afghanistan," tweeted Shaharzad Akbar.
The decree raises worries about even stricter measures targeting women
Their decree raised a host of concerns, not only about women's freedom of expression but about whether they would be able to continue doing their jobs.
Some women began questioning whether the veiling order was a prelude to being ordered off air entirely, because many conservative Muslims consider a woman's voice to be sexually arousing — and therefore should not be heard in public.
There was mixed compliance at first, which prompted the Taliban to begin enforcing the order over the weekend. Its Ministry of Vice and Virtue said "the decision was final and that there was no room for discussion."
The news readers were likely confused because the same ministry has not yet implemented its earlier, broader decree on women and pubescent girls covering their faces or wearing a burka in public. It appears the hardline ministry may have wanted to set an example with women who appear on Afghan airwaves first.
Most female anchors have since been seen with their faces covered, according to the Associated Press. But so have many of their male colleagues, who have donned face masks on air in solidarity.