Is Russian Language Version of Apple's 'Siri' Homophobic?

Is Apple's "Siri" Putin's secret iBitch? Apparently she won't talk about the gays in Russian.

Siri, the audio virtual assistant on Apple's iPhones and iPads, expanded her language options and picked up Russian this year. Unfortunately, according to a new YouTube video, she may have also picked up Russia's anti-gay prejudice.

In a video posted to YouTube channel "Comrade Siri," a user identified as "Alex" uses the Russian word for "gay" in a few queries to the digital personal assistant.

"Siri, are there gay clubs around me?"
he asked, to which his iPad's Siri replied, "I would have turned red, if I could."

Similarly, when he asked how to register for gay marriage in the U.K., his iPad's Siri replied: "I will pretend I haven't heard it."

When he simply asked about gay marriage, his Siri said, "Alex, you are so rude!"

Alex points out that Siri's responses occurred on an iPad he was using outside of the jurisdiction of Russia's anti-gay propaganda law while he used the unit in London.

"Why is Russian Siri so homophobic?" he asked.

Reddit users supportive of the tech giant with openly gay CEO, Tim Cook, and near perfect HRC Corporate Equality Index score speculated that the Russian Siri marked the word "gay" as profanity.

"The problem is that it's listed as a profane word," a user wrote. "??? isn't inherently profane. It's a borrow word from the English 'gay' and has the same meaning. It can be used disparagingly but isn't inherently. And the pejorative term is more likely to be ??????"

Pink News points out that while Apple declined to make a statement, a spokesman said it was a "bug" that has since been fixed.