Minority Azerbaijan - Turkey rates LGBT and rainbow products as 18+

Turkey claims rainbows ‘negatively affect children’s mental health’ in chilling clampdown on LGBT+ Pride merchandise. In Turkey, government advertising regulators have announced that LGBT+ and rainbow-themed products sold online must be advertised as being for ages 18 and over to “protect children”.

Board members of the Reklam Özdenetim Kurulu, which operates within the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, “unanimously” agreed that not listing the wares with an 18+ warning risks children’s “mental, psychological and social development”.

The board, whose members stretch across other government departments such as health and justice, stressed in a letter seen by BBC Turkish that the agency is not banning LGBT+ items. Rather, it instructs that selling the merchandise without a warning “constitutes a violation of the legal regulations”, read the letter, signed by Oğuz Şahin, a deputy general manager at the Ministry of Commerce. He noted that companies that do not rate rainbow goods as 18+ will see advertisements suspended.

The letter stated: “In this context, e-commerce platforms, which are widely used by consumers throughout the country, should be sensitive to this issue and I request your information to take the aforementioned measures.

Source: PinkNews