Russia could ban ‘gay emojis’ under ‘propaganda’ laws

Russia may ban emojis depicting same-sex couples from social media if an investigation finds that they violate the country’s ‘gay propaganda’ laws.

Senator Mikhail Marchenko complained to Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor that the emojis broke a law that prohibits the ‘promotion’ of homosexual relationships.

According to a report in Russia’s Izvestia newspaper, the regulator could ban the emoticons if they are found to break the law, however it is not clear how such a ban would be enforced.

Roskomnador has asked the Young Guard, the youth wing of president Vladimir Putin’s political party, to investigate.

Young Guard spokesperson Kirill Grinchenko told Izvestia that the group had not yet been asked to look into the matter but that it was “ready to deal with the protection of rights on the Internet under Russian law”.

Apple first introduced emojis depicting gay couples in 2012 with an operating system upgrade. Earlier this year it added emojis of same-sex couples with children.