Amazon blocks searches for LGBTQ+ products in the United Arab Emirates

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – e-commerce giant Amazon The company blocked search results for LGBTQ-related products on its United Arab Emirates website following a series of boycotts against same-sex themes in the Gulf.

Amazon made the decision after being pressured by UAE authorities, which reportedly threatened to punish it and gave Amazon until Friday to comply with its demands to limit search results for LGBTQ-themed material.This is according to the documents viewed New York Timeswho first reported the story.

“Following news from Emirates, Amazon asked its restricted product team to take steps to remove individual product listings, and the team managing the company’s search capabilities hid results for more than 150 keywords,” The Times said in its report wrote. Those keywords included “lgbtq,” “pride,” “closed gay” and “transgender flag,” the report said.

On Friday, July 1, searches for “LGBT” and “LGBTQ” on Amazon’s UAE site yielded no results. But a search for “pride” did yield some rainbow-themed items, such as notebooks, shirts and phone cases, with the word “pride” written on them. The rainbow flag with no text on it is still available.

The UAE Ministries 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 is overwhelmingly Muslim. Homosexuality is criminalized in the UAE, punishable by fines and imprisonment.

Amazon described its decision as complying with local law.

“As a company, we remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and we believe the rights of LGBTQ+ people must be protected,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in an email.

“For Amazon stores around the world, we must also comply with local laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate.”

Earlier this month, the UAE announced a ban disney The Pixar film “Light Years” from theaters contains gay characters and a brief scene featuring same-sex kissing. Many countries in the Middle East and South Asia have done the same.

In early June, an Instagram post on the page of the US embassy in the UAE celebrating Pride month also drew a backlash from locals.

This is the second year that Pride month and gay rights have been publicly commemorated by U.S. diplomatic missions in any Gulf country; in 2021, the U.S. embassy in Abu Dhabi raised the Rainbow Pride flag, prompting condemnation from prominent UAE figures, among them Many say they do not respect their laws, religions and values.

The U.S. embassy in the United Arab Emirates did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

For years, the UAE has worked to establish itself as a modern, tolerant haven in a highly conservative region. The oil-rich desert emirate is home to 90 percent of its expatriate population and allows alcohol, bikinis on public beaches and other cultural elements often banned in Muslim countries.

Last year, the country passed a series of modernisation reforms, including decriminalising premarital sex, ending film censorship in theatres and shifting from Islamic weekends (Friday to Saturday) to Saturday to Sunday weekends to push for more global competition. power and attract more foreign investment and talent.

Its nightclubs are similar to those in Europe, it regularly hosts concerts by famous rappers and pop stars, and it even relaxed penalties for some drug laws last year. In 2016, the Ministry of Tolerance was established.

However, homosexuality remains a taboo.