Apple charged with ‘LGBT propaganda’ in Russia for rainbow flag wallpaper in latest update

A court in Moscow has begun hearing a civil case brought by Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor against US tech giant Apple for spreading “LGBT propaganda”, according to information published on the Tagansky District Court’s website on Tuesday.

Though the basis of the civil case was not specified in the court documents, Apple Distribution International Ltd., the main shareholder in Apple Rus, Apple’s Russian subsidiary, was named as the defendant. If found guilty, the company could face a fine of up to 4 million rubles (€42,400).

Telegram channel Baza, which is close to the security forces, said the case is likely to have arisen from Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor objecting to Apple using wallpaper in the colours of the rainbow flag, an LGBT symbol, in the latest iOS18 update. Apple created the wallpaper in honour of Pride Month, which will run throughout June. The company’s first bitten apple logo, designed in 1977, was in the colours of the rainbow.

Apple has previously faced criticism for submitting to Kremlin censorship after it quietly removed a number of independent media apps and VPN services from its Russian App Store as a means of avoiding a total block on Apple content in Russia in December. Apple continues to prosper in Russia, despite Western sanctions, thanks to indirect imports of iPhones, sales of which constituted 12% of the Russian smartphone market last year.

Despite never defining the terms and leaving it open to interpretation, Russia imposed a complete ban on what it terms “LGBT propaganda” in November 2022. Prior to that, the law had only applied to the propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors.

Previous prosecutions for displaying “extremist” LGBT symbols include a woman being detained in February 2024 for wearing earrings with a rainbow motif, a political campaigner being arrested in March 2024 for using the rainbow flag in an online chat and a university student being imprisoned for 15 days in May for using it flag in an online post.