<story><title>Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/30/amazon-bows-to-uae-pressure-to-restrict-lgbt-search-results</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>RyEgswuCsn</author><text>Do people agree that corporations should respect the customs and values of the local people when operating their business there?&lt;p&gt;If yes, then Amazon is not &amp;quot;bowing&amp;quot;, and it is The Guardian who is playing word games here.  If not, then it would seem to imply that we are OK with western powers using their capital (instead of gunboats) to impose their ideology on other cultures in the world.&lt;p&gt;Now, one may argue that the customs and values of some countries are incompatible with those of the West and may even be considered &amp;quot;backward&amp;quot; to the point that western companies should completely withdraw from those markets because providing services to such markets equates to empowering those backward social values.  That can be a fair assessment, but just remember not to blame them for &amp;quot;banning western companies&amp;quot; in the future.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>djohnston</author><text>My feeling is that if you&amp;#x27;re going out of your way to promote an ideology&amp;#x2F;cultural value domestically (Happy Pride Month!, flags everywhere, etc), then yes you need to stick to your guns and not bow to the opposite influence.&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#x27;re strictly in the business of making money, then by all means conduct your business but stfu about it.</text></comment>
<story><title>Amazon bows to UAE pressure to restrict LGBT search results</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/30/amazon-bows-to-uae-pressure-to-restrict-lgbt-search-results</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>RyEgswuCsn</author><text>Do people agree that corporations should respect the customs and values of the local people when operating their business there?&lt;p&gt;If yes, then Amazon is not &amp;quot;bowing&amp;quot;, and it is The Guardian who is playing word games here.  If not, then it would seem to imply that we are OK with western powers using their capital (instead of gunboats) to impose their ideology on other cultures in the world.&lt;p&gt;Now, one may argue that the customs and values of some countries are incompatible with those of the West and may even be considered &amp;quot;backward&amp;quot; to the point that western companies should completely withdraw from those markets because providing services to such markets equates to empowering those backward social values.  That can be a fair assessment, but just remember not to blame them for &amp;quot;banning western companies&amp;quot; in the future.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>JumpCrisscross</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;remember not to blame them for &amp;quot;banning western companies&amp;quot; in the future&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;American companies are banned from paying foreign bribes. They’re not given a free pass with suporting genocide or terrorism, regardless of where it happens, even if that’s the law or custom somewhere else.&lt;p&gt;If we place domestic profits over sex trafficking or death penalties for gay people, so long as it’s there not here, then fine, let’s live with that sociopathy. It’s an abysmal moral space to occupy, but I also can’t argue with putting food on one’s table.</text></comment>