2023-08-09 10:56:56
The official media regulator for Irak announced on Tuesday to all media and social media companies operating in the Arab state that do not use the term “homosexuality” and? instead say “sexual deviance”according to a government spokesman and a document from the regulator.
The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission document said that the use of the term “gender” was also prohibited. It prohibited all telephone and internet companies authorized by it from using the terms in any of their mobile applications.
A government official later said the decision still required final approval. The regulator “instructs the media (…) not to use the term ‘homosexuality’ and to use the correct term ‘sexual deviance’,” the statement said.
A government spokesman stated that the penalty for breaching the rule had not yet been set, but that it might include a fine. Iraq does not criminalize same-sex relationships, but vaguely defined moral clauses have been used in its penal code to target members of the LGBTQ+ community, Archyde.com reported.
In the past two months, the main Iraqi parties have intensified their criticism of the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and rainbow flags have been frequently burned at protests by Shiite Muslim factions opposed to recent Koran burnings in Sweden and Denmark. More than 60 countries criminalize same-sex relations, while same-sex sexual relations are legal in more than 130 countries, according to Our World in Data.
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