There will be no outright ban on Telegram in Ukraine — lawmaker
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, stated that the government does not plan to impose a direct ban on the Telegram messaging app for ordinary citizens.
This was reported by Novyny.live.
Instead, government agencies may cease using the platform if its administration fails to comply with transparency and cooperation requirements.
According to the deputy, the mechanism for completely blocking social networks is an extreme measure that is applied only under certain conditions.
Messaging apps may be subject to sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) only if their direct cooperation with an aggressor country is officially proven.
“We may impose Security Council sanctions on social media platforms or messaging apps owned by an aggressor country. Such a procedure exists,” Yaroslav Yurchyshyn explained in a comment to the media.
He emphasized that the state is currently focusing on legislative regulation of such platforms.
The Ukrainian government’s main complaint against Telegram and similar services remains the anonymity of their actual owners.
A new draft law currently under consideration would require all popular social media platforms to disclose their ownership structure and identify the actual beneficiaries.
The state’s second key requirement is the establishment of official representative offices for foreign platforms within Ukraine.
This is necessary so that law enforcement agencies can promptly interact with the networks’ administration in the event of cybercrimes or the dissemination of illegal content.
If the messenger’s management ignores these rules, the state’s response will be the complete withdrawal of official institutions from this platform.
“The only consequence awaiting it is the withdrawal of all official institutions from this network. And these announcements show that it is untrustworthy,” the committee chair noted.
As a reminder, Telegram in Russia has stopped opening even via VPN.
Is it possible to block Telegram in Ukraine, and does it make sense to do so?
Telegram has also rolled out a major update with a range of new features for regular users and Premium subscribers.
