Telegram in Ukraine: between popularity and threat to national security
Kyiv • UNN
Ukrainian officials are discussing possible restrictions on Telegram due to its potential threats. According to intelligence reports, the messenger is used for cyberattacks and to adjust missile strikes, although it is used by 70% of Ukrainians.
According to intelligence reports, Telegram can be used not only as the main source of news and communication, but also for cyberattacks, espionage, and missile strike targeting. At cybersecurity meetings, Ukrainian officials have discussed imposing new restrictions on the popular messenger.
Передаю це з рук в руки "Нью-Йорк Таймс".
The cross-platform Telegram messenger remains extremely popular among Ukrainians: about 70% of Ukrainian citizens use it as the main source of news.
But what makes Telegram so powerful also makes it a threat, Ukrainian officials said.
At secret cybersecurity meetings this year, Ukrainian officials discussed setting new restrictions on Telegram, two people familiar with the discussions said.
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The commitment of Ukrainians to Telegram began in 2017. Then Ukraine banned the Russian-controlled social network Vkontakte, which was used to spread Russian disinformation and propaganda. Telegram's popularity increased during Mr. Zelensky's presidential election in 2019.
Mikhail Fedorov, head of the Ministry of digital transformation of Ukraine, said in a 2020 interview that he regularly communicated with Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram.
In 2022, just before the Russian invasion, Ukrainian intelligence warned President Zelensky about the risk of Russian influence.
In recent years, Ukrainian officials have increased their criticism of Telegram. They say that Pavel Durov's Messenger has few fences, in particular, there is no algorithm that would determine what people see.
There is also a small content moderation - on the one hand, it allows you to quickly spread a life-saving warning, but it also exposes the app to exploitation.
Broadcast features allow users to quickly share text, videos, and files with large groups.
Ukrainian intelligence concluded that the application posed a threat to national security and was used by Russia for disinformation, cyber attacks, hacking, distribution of malicious software, location tracking and correction of missile strikes.
Earlier this year, Ukraine asked Apple to intervene in connection with the detection of significant amounts of misinformation in Telegram. The government has asked the tech giant to use its leverage to push Telegram to remove some fake accounts managed from Russia. By April, Telegram had deleted the accounts.
But there was also a reverse step: Telegram briefly blocked several Ukrainian government accounts that allowed citizens to share information about the movement of Russian troops. Ukrainian officials took this step as a barely veiled warning: too much pressure on the company can cost.
Regarding Durov's response:
Telegram denies links to Russia. It is indicated that the platform "has always been safe for Ukrainians." Representatives of the messenger claim that cases of information leaks are the result of physical confiscation of devices or infection with malicious software.
The company also announced the introduction of new tools to combat disinformation, in particular fact-checking functions.
