Russian tech company hunts down LGBTQ+ businesses after Supreme Court’s “extremism” ruling

As Russian authorities begin cracking down on LGBTQ+ establishments following a ruling from the country’s Supreme Court declaring the “international LGBT social movement” an “extremist organization,” a Russian digital mapping company has begun collecting data on LGBTQ+ businesses.

On Monday, an anonymous employee of 2GIS, a company that develops digital maps, provided independent investigative outlet iStories with a screenshot of a message from management instructing staff to begin reviewing businesses included on the company’s maps and adding LGBTQ+ establishments to a special register.

Related:

Russia outlaws all LGBTQ+ groups & people as “extremist” threats

The order is the latest attack in Vladimir Putin’s anti-LGBTQ+ crusade.

“You must have heard that the Supreme Court has recognized the LGBT community as an extremist movement and banned it in Russia,” the message reads, according to Novaya Gazeta. “With that in mind, it is important we check our information.”

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“Our product might have these kinds of establishments (and they might not be obvious),” the message continues according to Meduza. “It’s not possible for us to catch all of these places in a centralized way, so it’s important that we conduct local reviews. They’re generally categorized as ‘nightclubs’ or ‘bars.’”

According to both Meduza and Novaya Gazeta, 2GIS has not responded to questions about the directive.

The Russian Supreme Court handed down its ruling last Thursday, giving authorities license to persecute any entity that supports LGBTQ+ rights. By Friday, police had already begun raiding gay bars and clubs. According to the Associated Press, police blamed drugs for raids on a nightclub, a male sauna, and an LGBTQ+ inclusive bar in Moscow. Authorities also reportedly photographed patrons’ IDs.

Other LGBTQ+ affiliated venues have begun shutting down as a result of the ruling and the raids.

As the New York Times reported last week, under the ruling gay rights activists in Russia could now face six to ten years in prison. In a post on X, Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Russia, predicted “complete distraction from real problems, the creation of mythical enemies, discrimination of the population on various grounds.”

Amnesty International decried the court’s ruling as “shameful and absurd.”