Amazon Censors LGBTQ Keywords in United Arab Emirates

After receiving pressure from the government of the United Arab Emirates, Amazon has blocked search results for more than 150 terms related to the LGBTQ community in the country. This is a step back from their 2019 stance, when Amazon elected to remove books from their site that promoted conversion therapy.

However this is not the first time that a large Silicon Valley company has altered itself in exchange for access to foreign markets, and it likely won’t be the last.

The country threatened to penalize Amazon if it did not restrict search terms within the country; however, it is unclear what these penalties are. When people tried to search terms such as “lgbtq,” “pride,” or “queer,” the website would offer no results, and a number of queer books, such as Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe and Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia, were no longer listed on Amazon’s UAE site. 

While the restriction has been quite comprehensive, it appears some items continue to appear on the UAE site. A search for “rainbow flag” brings up a listing for a writing journal with a rainbow flag cover titled “Pride Story Paper Book,” and searches under “same-sex” brought up a set of napkins and paper plates with the words “Mr. & Mr.” written on them. Other LGBTQ-themed books can still be found on Amazon’s UAE site, including André Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.

Within the UAE, same-gender sexual activity is still illegal, and LGBTQ representation continues to be highly censored. Most recently, the country banned the Pixar film Lightyear due to its inclusion of a kiss between two women. 

Speaking to Insider, an Amazon spokesperson says, “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.”