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Gay dating apps and LGBT + activist groups fall under website censorship documented in new global report
* Online censorship in six countries documented in new report
* Iran, UAE top list for blocking LGBT + websites
* Authorities use anti-LGBT + laws, URL blocks to gag sites
By Hugo Greenhalgh
LONDON, Aug.31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When Russian cities began banning pride marches, LGBT + rights activist Mikhail Tumasov took to the internet to make sure his organization kept its voice. But state authorities were quick to catch up.
Tumasov said the country’s internet regulator has repeatedly tried to shut down his group’s website under Russia’s 2013 “anti-gay propaganda†law, which prohibits the dissemination of LGBT + information to children.
So far, his organization – the Russian LGBT Network – has been able to challenge the closures in court.
“One way or another, we succeeded,†Tumasov said.
“So our website is still up and our social profiles are still up. But not everyone is so successful,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
According to a major global report released this week by three advocacy organizations, 32 different LGBT + websites were blocked at least once on Russian ISPs between mid-2016 and mid-2020.
“News sites on LGBTIQ-related topics were most often blocked, followed by cultural and human rights sites,” says report published by OutRight Action International, the Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto. and the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI).
Same-sex relationships in Russia are legal, but attitudes towards sexuality and gender identity remain mostly conservative.
In a 2020 referendum, voters backed a constitutional amendment to allow marriage only between a man and a woman, closing the door to potential future legislation in favor of same-sex marriages.
“Governments filter LGBTIQ websites using a variety of methods, but usually consisting of legal and technical methods,†said Irene Poetranto, senior researcher at the human rights group Citizen Lab tech and one of the co-authors of the report.
These can include passing laws that restrict “pornography” as well as specifically targeted anti-LGBT + laws, Poetranto said in comments sent via email.
“For example, in Russia the Anti-Gay Propaganda Law was enacted supposedly to protect children / minors and therefore censorship of LGBTIQ websites is carried out for the same reason. “
Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
“DANGERS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY”
Besides Russia, the report focused on Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), using software developed by OONI that measures different forms of internet censorship. .
The six countries were chosen because they were known to monitor LGBT + content, Poetranto said.
According to the report, the website bans violate article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Indonesia, Iran and Russia are signatories.
The multilateral treaty states that “everyone has the right to freedom of expression … (including) the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiersâ€.
Among the countries analyzed, Iran blocked the most number of website addresses related to LGBT + content.
“A total of 75 unique LGBTIQ URLs were detected as blocked in (Iran), followed by the United Arab Emirates, where 51 unique LGBTIQ URLs were blocked,” the report said.
Five years ago, the Indonesian government announced it was going to ban LGBT + sites, and at least 38 LGBT + websites are currently blocked in the country of 270 million people, according to the study.
Lini Zurlia, head of advocacy for the regional LGBT + organization ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, was working for Arus Pelangi, an Indonesian LGBT + advocacy group, when the government announced the crackdown.
She said the organization had received a letter from the government saying it was “on the list” of sites to shut down, although it ultimately escaped a ban.
“The LGBTIQ community is characterized by governments as dangers to national security and threats to the moral fabric of society,†Zurlia said in comments sent via email.
Indonesia’s communications and information technology ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Local activist groups aren’t the only ones seeing their websites targeted.
Grindr, one of the world’s most popular gay dating apps, has been banned in countries including Indonesia, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
“Grindr is not directly involved in challenging bans imposed by foreign governments,” a spokesperson said in comments sent by email.
“But we are aware of community efforts in several locations to overturn bans and fight back against attempts to limit LGBTQ life locally.”
In Russia, Tumasov said the internet provides a vital social lifeline for LGBT + people, with the website crackdown reflecting broader discrimination and disregard for their rights.
“The freedom of expression of the LGBTI community suffers from many threats from homophobic people,” he said.
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LGBT + Afghans desperate to escape amid Taliban takeover
Ghana’s anti-gay bill condemned as ‘state sponsored’ violence
(Reporting by Hugo Greenhalgh @hugo_greenhalgh, with additional reporting by Matt Lavietes in New York and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Editing by Helen Popper. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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