Digital map developer orders staff to gather data on Russian gay clubs

The management of 2GIS, a Russian digital map developer, has ordered its staff to gather data on all gay clubs in the country, an anonymous employee told independent news outlet iStories on Monday. The 2GIS press department is yet to comment.

The source provided a screenshot of the message from the management issued in light of the ban on the “LGBT movement”, asking employees to add Russian gay clubs to a special register. “You must have heard that the Supreme Court has recognised the LGBT community as an extremist movement and banned it in Russia. … With that in mind, it is important we check our information,” the message says.

The staff at 2GIS must also check individual entries and file complaints in cases of “compromising” photos or reviews. The iStories source believes that management instructions will eventually go further than data gathering.

The Russian Supreme Court ruled the “international LGBT movement” “extremist” on Thursday. Police subsequently raided queer clubs and saunas in the capital, Moscow. St. Petersburg queer bar Central Station then announced its closure Friday. The owners of the premises had refused to extend their lease.