Ukraine should stop official communication on Telegram, National Council believes
The state should stop official communication on Telegram, head of the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting, Olha Herasymiuk, said on national television on April 29.
"I believe that although Telegram is a very convenient form of communication, official persons and official state organizations should be outside Telegram, and this ban should be implemented immediately," she said.
At the same time, Herasymiuk noted that the work of Ukrainian intelligence agencies in Telegram is their business.
Read also: Ukraine's top spy Budanov advocates for Telegram regulation, not mere influence or pressure
"(Telegram) is only one of the mechanisms for obtaining information (by Ukrainian intelligence). But the state is trying to do everything to establish contacts with digital platforms," said Herasymiuk.
She believes that government organizations should transfer official communication to other messengers.
In addition, Herasymiuk said that the National Council is working with European partners to include Telegram in the list of large digital platforms subject to regulation.
Blocking Ukrainian chatbots in Telegram
The Telegram messenger unreasonably blocked the Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR) and a number of other official bots that opposed Russian aggression against Ukraine on the evening of April 28.
Read also: Telegram poses multiple security threats to Ukraine – HUR
Prior to that, it was reported that the eVorog bot from the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the official bot of the SBU, the bot-coordinator from the south of Ukraine, and the anti-aircraft defense bot for tracking Shaheds had been blocked. A number of unofficial bots have also stopped working.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Freedom of Speech, said that the blocking of a number of chatbots of Ukrainian special services in Telegram is not related to criticism of the messenger by the Ukrainian authorities regarding Russian propaganda.
Later, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security announced that the official Ukrainian bots, which helped in the fight against the aggression of the Russian Federation, resumed their work.
In a comment to Reuters, an unnamed representative of Telegram noted that the official chatbots of the Ukrainian special services were blocked "accidentally".
We’re bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
