What is Amazon doing in the UAE
From today in the United Arab Emirates it will no longer be possible to search and purchase products related to the LGBTQIA + world through Amazon. The US big tech, which claims to support equity and inclusion, turns a blind eye in the name of its own interests. All the details
Amazon gives in to pressure from the UAE government and introduces restrictions on the sale of LGBTQIA + related products within the country.
THE NEWS
The news was released by the New York Times which reports some pressure from the government of the United Arab Emirates to prevent the search and sale of products related to the LGBTQIA + world if searched through an Amazon website within the boundaries of the Village.
THE CENSORED PRODUCTS
Flags and other gadgets are among the objects that in the United Arab Emirates it will no longer be possible to search and buy from the giant of Jeff Bezos.
But also several books related to LGBTQIA + themes, including Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay and Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe.
The results were also hidden for over 150 keywords, from the broadest such as "lgbtq", "pride", to the particular ones such as "transgender flag" and "binder for lesbians".
The answer that now appears is "no result".
THE THREAT OF SANCTIONS
According to the reconstruction of the NYT , which has viewed some Amazon documents on the matter, the government of the United Arab Emirates had given the company time until today, Friday 1 July, to introduce the restrictions, under penalty of unspecified penalties.
ABSENCE OF RIGHTS
In the United Arab Emirates, in fact, same-sex relations and sexual acts between people of the same sex are illegal and punishable by fines and imprisonment. Even expressing support for LGBTQIA + rights can be considered a crime.
The penal code, recalls SkyTg24 , punishes "any male dressed in women's clothing who enters with this disguise in a place reserved for women or where there is a presence of women". As a result of this law, transgender women were also arrested in mixed spaces.
Furthermore, the rules governing non-governmental organizations make it virtually impossible to legally register groups working on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.
AMAZON'S COMMENT
Nicole Pampe, spokesperson for Amazon, told the BBC : "As a company, we continue to strive for diversity, equity and inclusion, and we believe that the rights of LGBTQIA + people must be protected."
However, "with Amazon stores around the world, we must also comply with the local laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate."
Amazon, the NYT reads, entered the Emirates in 2017 when it spent $ 580 million to acquire Souq.com, a Dubai-based e-commerce site known as the Amazon of the Middle East. Two years later, he renamed the Amazon.ae site, adding products offered by Amazon's US operations. This year it announced the opening of a new cluster of cloud computing data centers in the country.
RIGHTS, INTERESTS AND BIG TECH
The news comes just days after the annual Gay Pride in Seattle, Amazon's hometown. However, the compromise that US Big Techs are willing to accept in order to continue working in countries where the rights they claim to defend are trampled on, denied and criminalized is evident.
Amazon, The Verge recalls, had already been criticized for its self-righteous approach to LGBTQIA + issues even in the United States. The Seattle Pride non-profit group, which organizes the demonstration, recently cut ties with Amazon for its "support for anti-LGBTQIA + politicians."
The group cited a number of political activities, including Amazon's donations of more than $ 450,000 to lawmakers who voted against the Equality Act in 2020 – a law that, complementing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, also extends to orientation. sexual and gender identity the prohibition of discrimination based on ethnicity, color, religion, sex and nationality.
"We cannot partner with organizations that actively harm our community by advocating discriminatory laws and policies," said Seattle Pride and its executive director, Krystal Marx, added that Amazon has offered the group $ 100,000 for a series of changes to the company's sponsorship was highlighted, including the renaming of the parade to “Seattle Pride Parade Presented by Amazon”.
NOT ONLY AMAZON
However, Amazon isn't the only conniving company. As the NYT reports, Netflix withdrew shows in Saudi Arabia and censored scenes in Vietnam, Apple kept customer data on Chinese servers despite privacy concerns, and Google last year removed an opposition leader's app. after being threatened with prosecution by Moscow.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/cosa-combina-amazon-negli-emirati-arabi-uniti/ on Fri, 01 Jul 2022 09:19:48 +0000.