The Russian government recently introduced laws which effectively criminalise being openly queer because it can be construed as 'spreading homosexual propaganda'. The move by the Kremlin is another example of its repression of its queer citizens, alongside its support of criminal groups who maliciously lure openly queer people into ambushes to beat them and post the videos online.

Despite covering Russia's repressive new laws, media outlets like the Guardian, ABC and Fairfax have all written gushing reports about the grandeur of the games' opening ceremony and this amounts to tacit support for the regime.

Some sponsors such as AT&T have already expressed condemnation of the Russian discriminatory laws but importantly, they have not pulled their sponsorship dollars out. 

Google has changed its landing page logo in support of LGBTI people, and this is a good start. But it is still providing exposure to the games through its search results, when it can block the coverage with a small change in words that it filters. 

If media outlets impose a media blackout on the event, sponsors will see in real dollar terms, the consequences of supporting repressive and discriminatory events. Their marketing spend would go down the gurgler and marketing managers would see the negative impacts of being associated with such evetnts.

The only way corporations will be dragged into the appropriate moral stance is when to do otherwise would hurt their bottom line. A blackout would mean millions lost in advertising brand exposure on major media outlets and companies' marketing departments would take the threat seriously for any future event linked to repressive laws.

This would mean that for future events the Russian government would not be able to pull in the major sponsors to begin with, their power and legitimacy would be threatened and there would be major pressure placed on the discriminatory laws. If enough global media get involved, it could just be enough for the government to decide to repeal the laws and it would deter other governments from trying something similar in the future. 

Please sign the petition and write directly to the media outlets that you get your news from, pressure them for a media blackout.

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More info:

Violence against gay men in Russia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBz-ifXHOto​

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/winter-olympics/google-makes-statement-on-russian-gay-laws-ahead-of-sochi-opening-ceremony-20140207-326id.html