Duolingo gay
Language app Duolingo removes LGBTQ+ content from Russian platforms
The language learning platform Duolingo has deleted all references to the LGBTQ+ group from its platforms in Russia.
According to local media reports, Russia’s Roskomnadzor internet regulator previously requested the U.S.-based company to review its Russian content for the presence of what it called “LGBT propaganda.”
In Russia, LGBTQ+ advocates are labeled as “extremists” and can face arrest and prosecution. Public demonstrate of rainbow-colored items is also banned in the nation.
Read more: Supporters of Russian anti-war politician arrested for posting LGBT emoji and political memes
Earlier this week, Duolingo sent a letter to Roskomnadzor confirming that it had deleted the requested content, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
Businesses that operate in Russia can be fined up to four million rubles ($45,000) for promoting LGBTQ+ “propaganda,” and their services may be restricted, according to Roskomnadzor.
A Duolingo emissary told Recorded Future News that they “support LGBTQ+ rights and believe in normalizing LGBTQ+ representation” in content.
“Unfortunately, local l
June is Pride Month in the U.S., and at Duolingo we’re celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community on social media and here on our blog. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how we included representation in the development of our new cast of characters!
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Representation and diversity matter
When we were developing our recent cast of characters, we spent many months debating their names, strengths, faults, and life goals or lack thereof (ahem, Lin). But one thing we never questioned was the need for queer representation. There are two reasons for this.
First, Duolingo believes deeply in diversity and advocacy. This made it a no-brainer to include all types of characters of different ages, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientations.
The second reason is our learners. Something really singular about Duolingo is the extremely immense and diverse audience for our content: language learners of all ages, from all around the world. Yes, that’s a lot of people. And with such a broad base of learners, we have a responsibility to demonstrate and relate to the experiences of all kinds of people, LGBTQIA+ folks included.
Of course, characters are also much more compelling
We at Duolingo value the importance of a typical and inclusive workplace, and we draw from our varied experiences to establish the best language education products for people across identities and backgrounds. We are a community as diverse as our learners, and even within the LGBTQ community at the company, our differences are vast and interesting.
Ming (he/him), Software Engineer II
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I'm a software engineer at Duolingo working to upgrade learners' experiences in our courses. This Pride Month, to learn about the experiences of other members of the community, I talked to some of my LGBTQ co-workers about their identities and their work at Duolingo.
Graham
Graham (he/him), Data Scientist
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What are some challenges you face navigating the workplace?
I
Furry green owls have taken over my feed. Maybe you’ve come across them too. In one TikTok video, Charli XCX looks out at the crowd on her Sweat Tour’s opening night before singing, “Duolingo right there, baby,” right into the microphone. The camera pans to an audience where dozens of attendees are sporting masks of Duo—the lime-green owl mascot of the popular language-learning app Duolingo. The same masks went viral a few weeks earlier when worn by a group of shirtless gym bros on the streets of New York. This parliament of strigiform jocks (we’re leaning hard into the avian references here) was part of a pop-up event that Duolingo hosted in August. Clips like these document just the latest offerings from the educational technology corporation, whose strange yet wholly welcome marketing campaigns possess been getting increasingly bizarre—and increasingly queer.
They pride themselves on being free to use, although Duolingo also offers subscription services. The company also foregrounds their approach to diversity in all of their outward-facing materials—celebrating, as they’ve said, “all gender identities, sexual orientations and backgrounds,” across both their social media marke
Duolingo exists to teach me French – supposedly.
The year after I studied abroad I used it every day like a meditative practice. It didn’t refine my fluency but it helped me maintain where I was at as I hoped to someday get back to France. Then I missed a day and – after weighing the likelihood of upcoming international travel – I didn’t open the app for five years.
When I decided to initiate using Duolingo again last month it wasn’t because I thought I’d be going to a French-speaking country anytime soon. It was literally just to displace my impulse to check Twitter during a stressful election. I was trading the blue fowl app for the grassy bird app.
The most delightful change to the language learning tool in my absence was the addition of a section called Duolingo Stories. These plain narratives that gradually display new vocab remind me of the Bob Books I read in pre-school. This way of knowledge a language makes way more sense to me than the sometimes very random sentences in the main part of the app.
ALSO they’re funny, surprisingly progressive, and even gay???
That’s right. Story #6 titled “Honeymoon” is very lgbtq+. Not with a Disney-style exclusively gay moment, b