Google opts for a politically charged doodle in honor of the Winter Olympics

Newsroom 07/02/2014 | 09:24

Google’s home page honors the arrival of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, using a doodle that resembles the international symbol for gay rights: the rainbow. Beneath the images is a quote from the Olympic Charter.

It reads: “The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

It would be hard not to imagine that this quote is a direct response to some of the anti-gay rhetoric emerging from Russia.

The same doodle is currently running on the Google Russia home page.

Earlier on Thursday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon discussed “attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people” in Russia, saying that “we must oppose the arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions they face.”