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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – E-commerce giant Amazon is blocking search results for LGBTQ-related products on the United Arab Emirates website, following a series of protests against gay themes in the Gulf region.
Amazon made the decision after coming under pressure from UAE authorities, who allegedly threatened the company with fines and until Friday to comply with their request to restrict search results. for LGBTQ-themed materials. This is according to documentation viewed by New York Timesthe first to report the story.
“Following information from Emirates, Amazon asked its Restricted Products team to take steps to remove individual product listings, and the company’s search capabilities team hid the results for more than 150 keywords,” the Times wrote in its report. Those keywords include “lgbtq”, “proud”, “gay removed” and “transgender flag”, among others, the report said.
A search for “LGBT” and “LGBTQ” on the UAE’s Amazon site on Friday, July 1 turned up no results. But searches for “pride” turned up several rainbow-themed items like notebooks, shirts, and phone cases that featured the word “pride.” Rainbow flags with no words on them are still available.
The UAE Ministry of Culture and Foreign Affairs did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment at the time of writing.
The news comes after Pride Month, which is celebrated in countries around the world but not in the religiously conservative Gulf, which has a large Muslim population. Homosexuality is criminalized in the UAE and can result in fines and imprisonment.
Amazon describes its decision as one made to comply with local laws.
An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in an email: “As a company, we remain committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we believe 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.”
Pride, ‘Lightyear’ and regional backlash
Earlier this month, the UAE announced a ban Disney Pixar’s “Lightyear” hit theaters because of homosexual characters and a short scene featuring a same-sex kiss. Many countries across the Middle East and South Asia do the same.
An Instagram post celebrating Pride Month from the page of the US embassy in the UAE in early June also drew a backlash from locals.
This is the second year the U.S. diplomatic mission in any Gulf state has publicly celebrated Gay Rights and Pride Month; in 2021, the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi raised the Rainbow Pride flag, prompting condemnation from the famous Emirates angered by what many of them described as disrespect for the law, their religion and values.
The US Embassy in the UAE did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The UAE has for years strived to be a modern, tolerant haven in a highly conservative region. The oil-rich desert region of Sheikhdom is inhabited by 90% of the population who are foreigners and allows drinking, bikinis on public beaches and other cultural elements normally prohibited in Muslim countries .
Last year, the country passed a series of modernization reforms, including eliminating premarital sex, ending movie censorship in theaters, and moving from the Muslim weekend (Friday-Friday). Saturday) to the Saturday-Sunday weekend, in order to foster more global competition and attract more foreign investment and talent.
Its nightclubs are like those in Europe, it regularly hosts concerts by famous rappers and pop stars, and it even relaxes penalties for some drug laws its last year. In 2016, it established the Ministry of Tolerance.
Homosexuality, however, remains a taboo.
