Business
Instagram bans ‘conversion therapy’ content as opposition grows
Instagram said on Friday it would block content that promotes so-called conversion therapy, which aims to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, as pressure to ban the practice grows.
The social media giant announced earlier this year it would no longer allow adverts for conversion therapy services, which can range from counseling and ‘praying away the gay’ to electric shocks and sexual violence.
“We don’t allow attacks against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Tara Hopkins, Instagram’s public policy director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa said in an emailed statement.
“(We) are updating our policies to ban the promotion of conversion therapy services.”
A spokesman for Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, said it would take time to update all policies and content flagged by users may not be removed immediately.
The United Nations independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity called last month for a global ban on conversion therapy, describing it as “cruel, inhumane and degrading”.
A growing number of countries – including the United States, Canada, Chile, and Mexico – are reviewing their laws. Brazil, Ecuador, and Malta have nationwide bans on conversion therapy, while Germany outlawed the treatment for minors in May.
Instagram’s move is “a step in the right direction, but we’d have to wait and see exactly what kind of actions they take,” Harry Hitchens, co-founder of the campaign group Ban Conversion Therapy, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Ban Conversion Therapy sent an open letter yesterday to Britain’s Equalities Minister Liz Truss, urging her “to introduce a truly effective ban on conversion therapy for all lesbian, gay, bi, trans and gender diverse people in the UK”.
Among those who signed the letter were musicians Elton John and Dua Lipa and writer and actor Stephen Fry.
Truss pledged in May to ban conversion therapy for sexual orientation.
In a global survey of 1,641 survivors of conversion therapy published by the United Nations in May, 46% identified the perpetrators as being medical and mental health providers, while 19% were religious authorities and traditional healers.
Bisi Alimi, a Nigerian LGBT+ activist who underwent conversion therapy aged 16, welcomed the ban but said it had been “a long time coming”.
“What is missing for me in all of this conversation is the face of it, the horror of it. And I don’t care how terrible it is, people need to see it and see real human beings sharing their story in public,” he said.
Source: Reuters
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday acting minister Nooruddin Azizi met with the leader of Russia’s autonomous republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov, on the sidelines of a meeting in Kazan.
According to the ministry, Azizi met with Minnikhanov on the sidelines of the Kazan Forum – the 15th International Economic Forum of Russia and the Islamic World.
The two officials discussed bilateral trade relations, the establishment of the Russian Trade House in Afghanistan, the visit of Minnikhanov to Kabul, investment in electricity production, water transfer, mining, cultural and economic cooperation and other matters.
This annual meeting is held by Russia and the 14th round of this meeting was also held in the same country last year.
The main goal of the forum is to strengthen trade and economic, scientific and technical, social and cultural ties between Russian regions and the countries of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as well as to promote the development of the Islamic financial system institutions in Russia.
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) said on Wednesday that last year, the value of exports totaled $1.79 billion while imports totaled $8.57 billion.
According to NSIA, fruits accounted for the largest share of export items last year, totaling over $645 million.
Medicinal plants, minerals and vegetables were the next top three items respectively to be exported.
Meanwhile, petroleum and oil accounted for the largest portion of imported goods, totaling over $1.37 billion.
Another large portion of the total amount imported went to machinery, vehicles and parts. This totaled over $1.15 billion, followed by textiles, metals and metal products.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, headed to Russia to participate in an international economic meeting in Kazan, Tatarstan.
The aim of the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum 2024, the 15th edition of the forum, is to offer a platform for leading international economic and financial specialists from the Islamic world to strengthen ties between the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the regions of the Russian Federation in the economic, educational, social and cultural spheres, Anadolu Agency reported.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that Azizi, leading a high-level delegation of the Islamic Emriate, traveled to Tatarstan at the invitation of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.
The forum is held between May 14 and 19.
The forum also aims to promote the development of Islamic financial institutions in Russia and worldwide, with a focus on joint international projects and programs, according to Anadolu Agency.
More than 80 nations are expected to participate in the event, including representatives of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Malaysia, Türkiye, Iran, Libya, and other OIC member states.
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