Amazon Banned Over 150 LGBTQ-Related Search Keywords in the UAE

Amazon has begun removing search results for more than 150 LGBTQ-related keywords in the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE government has set a deadline of Friday to remove LGBTQ-related search results and has threatened to impose penalties if it fails to do so.

On Thursday, Insider conducted a search for various LGBTQ-related keywords on Amazon's UAE website, Amazon.ae, and found that the company had removed some LGBTQ-related words from its search results. For example, "lgbtq", "pride" and "queer". Some books available on the US Amazon shop, such as Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer: A Memoir" and Jacob Tobia's "Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story", could not be found on the Amazon website in the UAE on Thursday.

Some LGBTQ-related searches did manage to be found. By typing "rainbow flag" into a search engine, Insider found an advertisement for a record magazine called Pride Story Paper Book with a rainbow flag on the cover.

In addition, Durov's Code was able to find souvenir items by searching for "gachimuchi".  Whether this search will be blocked as well remains to be seen.

Same-sex sexual relations are criminalised in the UAE and LGBTQ representation is heavily censored.