No gay emoji

Mr Marchenko claims the symbols - which depict smiley-faced same-sex couples - violate a controversial law which prohibits promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships. The law allows Russian authorities to block access to websites deemed to promote homosexuality. An Apple update earlier this year introduced emojis depicting gay parents.

Russia 'may ban gay emojis' under 'propaganda' law

Indonesia wants social networking sites to remove any emojis representing same-sex couples, it's reported. One popular messaging app, Line, has already dropped , external all LGBT-themed emojis, after saying it had received complaints from users. Now the Indonesian government is asking major players like Facebook and WhatsApp to follow suit and remove the icons for users within the country, the Republika newspaper reports , external.

Indonesia bans gay emoji and stickers from messaging apps

Anti ⃠ Emojis

The government move comes after a social media backlash against Line, a popular smartphone messaging app, for having stickers — an elaborate type of emoji — with homosexual themes in its online store. At the same time most of Indonesian society, which follows a moderate form of Islam, is tolerant, with gay and transsexual entertainers often appearing on television shows.