While most of the world has embraced Apple’s introduction of those cute LGBT-friendly emojis, the higher ups in Russian Federation see them as breaking their anti-gay propaganda law and want the tech giant to delete them.
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Following attempts to ban shirtless men, Game of Thrones and even transgender people from driving, Russian Federation is now considering a ban on gay emojis.
According to Vocativ, Deputy Head of Roskomnadzor, Maxim Ksenzov Mikhael Marchenko, says that the seemingly harmless emoji are in fact part of “the spread on social media of untraditional sexual relations among minors” that “denies family values”.
Particularly problematic are the emojis of same-sex couples and same-sex kisses, though presumably the rainbow is also of concern.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulator, has requested that pro-Kremlin youth group Young Guard of United Russian Federation look into emoji use on members’ social media profiles.
The move comes as Russia’s crackdown on what the government deems “gay propoganda” continues to intensify – after President Putin signed legislation aimed at tackling “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” in 2013.
They claim removing emojis which hint at homosexuality is part of their role in protecting the country ‘from information that’s harmful to their health and development.’. The founder of a Russian LGBT website was recently fined 50,000 rubles for violating gay “propaganda” laws.
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A representative of Young Guard said that the group has not yet received the letter from Roskomnadzor, but would be open to investigating the impact of emojis.
