Russian Siri Accused Of Homophobia After Video Criticizing Questions About Being Gay Surfaces
LONDON (CBS SF) -- A Russian-speaking London man has "a few questions ... about why Russian Siri is so homophobic" after inquiries about gay marriage were dismissed and criticized by the personal assistant feature in an online video.
In the video titled "In Soviet Russia Siri Questions You" - which had been seen nearly 50,000 times as of Tuesday - a man identified only as Alex asks the iPad program to help him find gay clubs near him. "I would have turned red if I could," responded Siri, according to captioning.
CBS San Francisco has not yet been able to confirm the translation in the video, however a translation of the Russian LGBTQ blog Lesbiru appears to confirm that the Russian version is critical of gay inquiries. The new Russian version of Siri debuted late last week.
In a separate translation, Alex asks how to register a same-sex marriage in the UK and gets the response. "So now you are swearing obscenities and then you're going to eat with these very hands?"
CBS San Francisco has reached out to Apple, which has not commented publicly on the video. We have since learned that the issue has been resolved.
Apple Inc., which is run by openly-gay CEO Tim Cook, has a reputation as pro LGBT rights. Just last month, Cook came out against Indiana's religious freedom law that was seen as discriminatory toward gay people.
Apple's inclusive philosophy has drawn some criticism in Russia, where "nontraditional sexual relationships" were outlawed more than a year ago. Last November, a tribute to Steve Jobs was removed from a college campus in Saint Petersburg following Cook's confirmation that he is gay.
