Apparently, Apple is under investigation by Russian authorities. A local lawyer, named Yaroslav Mikhailov has challenged the inclusion of same-sex couple emojis on Apple's iOS 8.3. Russia has banned the public display of various LGBT symbols in their country.
The Cupertino-based tech giant's latest installment of emojis contains same-sex couples. Back in March, Apple revealed its latest emoji collection, with both skin tone modifiers and same-sex couples. The same-sex couple emoji was unveiled in the iOS 6 upgrade, while the family emojis with same-sex parents were available with the iOS 8.3 update.
The inclusion of these emojis may get Apple in trouble with Russia, which perceives the icon as promoting "homosexual propaganda." In 2013, Russia passed a law that banned promotion of homosexuality to minors. Now, the police in the Kirov region are looking into claims that Apple is violating this law after Yaroslav Mikhailov filed a complaint.
It is also worth noting that last year, St. Petersburg city council member, Vitaly Milonov, advocated for the banning of Apple CEO Tim Cook from Russia because of his sexual preference as being openly gay.
As reported on RT, Yaroslav Mikhailov said "My appeal was forwarded to the police of the Kirov region. As far as I know, a check was conducted by the Department 'K', which deals with crimes in the field of information technologies. The police concluded that my complaint was justified and opened a case on an administrative offense."
If authorities find Apple to be guilty, then the company could be fined 1 million rubles which is equivalent to $15,273. In case Apple does not pay the fine, all its products could be banned in the whole country of Russia.
Whether the complaint filed against Apple proves it guilty or otherwise, it is still best that everyone respects one another's belief. Hopefully nothing worse could happen as the case has not been concluded yet.
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