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Russian politician to sue Apple for distributing 'gay propaganda' in form of U2 album

LDPR party member Alexander Starovoitov is taking legal action on behalf of his son

Matilda Battersby
Friday 01 May 2015 08:20 BST
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U2's Songs of Innocence album sleeve
U2's Songs of Innocence album sleeve

A member of the Russian government has requested an investigation into Apple for distributing “gay propaganda” in the form of U2’s latest record.

A member of the right-wing LDPR party, Alexander Starovoitov, says Apple’s “gift” of the Irish rock band’s Songs of Innocence album promotes sex between men.

The album artwork features a shirtless image of the band’s drummer, Larry Mullen Jr, embracing his 18-year-old son, Elvis.

The photograph, taken by Glen Luchford, was intended as a visual metaphor for “how holding on to your own innocence is a lot harder than holding on to someone else’s”.

Pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia quotes Evgeny Tonky, a lawyer for Mr Starovoitov, who claims he is going to sue Apple for compensation on the grounds of moral damages on behalf of his own son.

Apple’s Tim Cook and The Edge and Bono of U2

Russia’s encroaching anti-gay laws have been attracting mounting international attention.

Last year Stephen Fry was among major commentators to call for Britain to boycott the Winter Olympics in Sochi in protest.

New laws passed by the Duma prohibit "propaganda" in support of "non-traditional" sexual orientation and threaten heavy fines for anyone "promoting" homosexuality to under-18s.

If Apple were convicted of distributing gay propaganda to youths it could be forced to pay a fine up to 1 million roubles (£13,000) and could be forced to suspend operations in Russia for 90 days.

Songs of Innocence was distributed automatically to more than 500 million iTunes customers worldwide in September 2014 prompting a significant backlash.

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During a Facebook chat, Bono apologised for “dumping” the album on Apple users.

“I had this beautiful idea. We got carried away with ourselves. There’s a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it.”

Bono said the experiment had been a success since it ensured that an audience got to hear the band’s new songs, in an era when album sales have collapsed.

However, it delivered them their lowest ever chart position for a new album. All their albums have debuted at number 1 in the UK since War in 1983, with the exception of Achtung Baby, which was pipped by Michael Jackson’s Dangerous in 1991.

Following Apple boss Tim Cook's announcement that he is gay in November last year, a university in St Petersburg removed a monument to Steve Jobs and Apple in what was believed to be response to the news.

Apple could not be reached for comment at press time.

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