A Russian politician has asked Russia’s attorney general to investigate Apple for distributing to minors what they believe to be “gay propaganda” with the artwork for U2’s album Songs Of Innocence.
According to The Guardian, Alexander Starovoitov, who is a member of the rightwing LDPR party, says that Apple spammed minors with illegal content by putting the album and its accompanying artwork on more than 500 million iTunes accounts worldwide.
The artwork for Songs Of Innocence, which you can view above, features U2’s drummer Larry Mullen Jr. hugging his 18-year-old son, Elvis, while both are shirtless.
When the band first released the artwork, they wrote on their website: “The visuals reflect the new songs and their inspiration in the early years of U2 as teenagers in Dublin.”
“Glen Luchford's striking cover image of Larry Mullen Jr, protecting his 18year old son, resonates with the band's iconic 1980 debut album Boy - and the album War, three years later,” they continued.
It went on: “'We've always been about community in U2, about family and friends,' explains Bono. 'Songs Of Innocence is the most intimate album we've ever made. With this record we were looking for the raw, naked and personal, to strip everything back.'
The idea of the unique relationship between a parent and child, the image of a father and son, came from the band. The shoot with Larry and his son was initially an experiment but everyone loved it as a visual metaphor for the record.”
However, Starovoitov claims that the image promotes sex between men. As the newspaper Izvestia reports, lawyer Evgeny Tonky says he plans to sue Apple for compensation for moral damages on behalf of his own son.
The Guardian writes that if Apple is convicted of distributing gay propaganda to minors, then the company could be forced to cease operations in Russia for up to 90 days, or be forced to pay a fine of up to 1 million roubles (£13,000).
Tags: U2
Russian politician brands Apple's free U2 album as 'gay propaganda'
He says it 'spammed youths with illegal content' and promoted gay sex
