A Russian politician has urged the country’s attorney general to investigate Apple for distributing “gay propaganda” to minors for its “gifting” of the U2 album, Songs of Innocence.

Alexander Starovoitov, a member of the right-wing LDPR party, claims that the album’s cover – which features topless drummer Adam Clayton hugging his 18 year-old son Elvis’ midriff – promotes sex between men.

U2 have stated that the image is a “visual metaphor” for the album’s theme of “how holding on to your own innocence is a lot harder than holding on to someone else’s”.

The ‘spam’ release of the album in September of last year caused widespread consternation among many iDevice users when they realised that the entire album had automatically downloaded to their iTunes accounts.

If Apple is convicted of distributing gay propaganda to minors, the company could be forced to cease operations in Russia for as many as 90 days, or pay a fine of up to 1 million roubles (€18,000), reports The Guardian.

The Russian subsidiary of Apple Inc., LLC Apple Rus, have yet to respond to the claims.