NCTRB chair calls on the government to cease using Telegram for official communication

Olha Herasymiuk. Photo by Volodymyr Tarasov / Ukrinform

The head of the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting, Olha Herasymiuk, said on the telethon air that the government should stop using Telergam for official communication.

Her statement comes shortly after the Telegram bots of Ukrainian intelligence services were blocked, reports Hromadske.

"I believe that despite Telegram being a very convenient means of communication, officials and official state bodies should be off Telegram, and this ban should be implemented immediately," she said.

At the same time, the NCTRB chair believes that it is up to the intelligence services to "make decisions" regarding their activity on Telegram.

“[Telegram] is only one of the information gathering tools used [by Ukrainian intelligence]. But the state is trying to do everything to establish relations with digital platforms. I think that official communication should be moved to other messenger apps little by little," said Herasymiuk.

She also said that the NCTRB was working with European partners to include Telegram in the list of large digital platforms that are subject to regulation and may be fined in cases of breaches.

Previously

On April 24, Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that he had received official letters from Apple demanding that the platform block news and propaganda channels for users with Ukrainian SIM cards.

The Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that on April 28 Telegram blocked several bots of Ukrainian official bodies that were used to fight against Russia's armed aggression in Ukraine, including the Main Intelligence Bot. Later, the bots resumed their work.

Telegram's risks for Ukraine

On March 27, 2024, the Intelligence Department chief Kyrylo Budanov said that Telegram posed a problem for Ukraine's national security.

In February 2024, the DIU admitted that Telegram posed multiple risks to Ukraine's security and the need to look for solutions to this problem.

On March 21, 2024, deputy Mykola Knyazhytsky announced that he would initiate a draft bill on imposing regulations on Telegram and similar platforms in Ukraine. As soon as March 25, the draft bill "On Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Regulation of Information Sharing Platforms Used to Disseminate Mass Information" was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada.

Oleksandr Melnychenko of the SBU Department of Counterintelligence and National Information Security has said that Telegram servers are most likely located in Russia.

Read the IMI study to learn how the top-100 Telegram channels in the Ukrainian segment spread fake news and manipulate the subject of mobilization.

On April 25, 2024, Telegram received an official letter from Apple with a demand to block news and propaganda channels for users with Ukrainian SIM cards.