“Big Brother” of Russia on the Internet is a fact. Russia has launched a system that will scan the internet for illegal content, making it easier for authorities to spot unsanctioned protests, disputes over the war in Ukraine and “LGBTQ propaganda”, they said. today Monday officials.

The system, named Oculus, will be able to read and recognize illegal scenes in photos and videos, analyze more than 200,000 images daily with a frequency of 3 seconds per image, reports the Interfax agency.

Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February, it has cracked down on political opposition and independent media inside Russia that had survived previous bans, and is reinforcing a conservative, nationalist narrative that disapproves of “non-traditional” lifestyles and orientations. .

The Oculus “automatically detects violations such as those containing extremist content, calls for illegal gatherings or suicides, content related to drug use, LGBTI community propaganda and more” writes the Interfax agency citing the Main Radio Frequency Center (MRFC), part of the regulatory telecommunications authority Roskomnadzor.

“Since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, ‘fake news’ has multiplied and spread at an unprecedented rate, aiming to replace real events with a specially constructed reality,” it is mentioned in the announcement of the Radio Frequency Center to which it is added that “creating this system is our answer to the challenges and anti-Russian actions on behalf of foreign actors”.

Russia has accused the West of promoting the spread of what it claims are false information about its “special military operation” in Ukraine in an attempt to discredit Russia’s armed forces.

Last year he passed a law that imposes heavy fines on people who spread such news and banned social media sites and media outlets that share news content that contradicts Moscow’s official line on the war in Ukraine.

Another new law provides for fines for any person or organization that promotes “LGBTQ propaganda”, a move that critics say bans any public mention of lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgender people who live what are officially called “non-traditional” lifestyles.

The Main Radio Frequency Center (MRFC) did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.