印尼禁用同性戀主題表情符號

The Indonesian government has demanded all instant messaging apps to remove same-sex emoticons or face a ban in the country.

近日，印度尼西亞政府要求所有即時通訊應用移除同性戀相關的表情符號，否則將被禁用。

The emojis — which are available on the popular apps LINE and Whatsapp as well as Facebook and Twitter — depict same-sex couples holding hands and the rainbow flag, commonly used to symbolise the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

在Line、WhatsApp、Facebook、Twitter等深受歡迎的應用程序中，用戶都可以使用那些描述同性夫婦手牽着手、彩虹旗、通常用來表示女同性戀，男同性戀，雙性戀和變性者（LGBT）社區的emoji表情。

"Such contents are not allowed in Indonesia based on our cultural law and the religious norms and the operators must respect that," Ismail Cawidu, spokesman for the communication and information ministry, said Friday.

週五，該國信息通訊部發言人伊斯梅爾·卡維杜表示，該國禁用同性戀表情符號是基於其文化法律和宗教規範，經營者必須尊重這些。

He said of particular concern was that the colourful emojis and stickers could appeal to children. "Those things might be considered normal in some Western countries, while in Indonesia it's practically impossible," he said.

他表示：“尤其需要注意的是，色彩豐富的emojis很容易吸引孩子。一些西方國家或許認爲這些東西很正常，但在印尼幾乎是不可能的。”

Mr Cawidu said the ministry had contacted all companies that used such content, including Twitter and Facebook, and failure to comply with the request to remove the emojis could lead to the apps being banned in Indonesia.

卡維杜說，通訊和信息部已經聯絡Twitter、Facebook和其他可以在應用中使用這些emojis的公司，如果他們不按要求移除此類內容，很可能被印尼禁用。

LINE Indonesia has already removed its gay emojis from online stores and issued an apology.

目前印尼版Line已經從在線商店裏刪除了同性戀emojis，甚至還發布了道歉聲明。

While homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, the topic remains a controversial subject.

雖然同性戀在這個以穆斯林爲主的國家不是非法，但仍頗具爭議。