Amazon has restricted items and search results related to LGBT issues on its website in the United Arab Emirates, despite the woke e-commerce giant celebrating Pride Month elsewhere. Breitbart News has more.
The New York Times reports that earlier this week, Amazon moved to restrict items and search results related to LGBT people on its website in the United Arab Emirates. The move comes after the company faced pressure from the UAE Government, according to company documents seen by the NYT.
The UAE government reportedly gave Amazon a deadline of Friday to comply or face penalties. It was unclear what those penalties would be, but Amazon appeared to take the threat seriously. Homosexuality is criminalised in the UAE and is punishable by fines and imprisonment.
A number of woke tech firms have made concessions to foreign governments in recent years, Netflix has pulled shows in Saudi Arabia or censored them in countries like Vietnam, while Apple has stored customer data on Chinese servers despite its alleged dedication to privacy. Google also removed an app by a Russian opposition leader from its Google Play Store last year following threats of prosecution in the country.
The search terms include “lgbtq”, “pride”, “closeted gay”, “transgender flag”, “queer brooch”, “chest binder for lesbians”, and “lgbtq iphone case”. A number of specific books were also banned including My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Nagata Kabi; Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe; and Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist.
An Amazon spokesperson told the NYT: “As a company, we remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and we believe that the rights of LGBTQ+ people must be protected. With Amazon stores around the world, we must also comply with the local laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate.”