The intelligence service claims that the management of the social network, when the FSB needs to block any channel on the territory of the Russian Federation, carries out these instructions instantly.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) monitors where the servers of the Telegram social network are located. Moreover, there is a high probability that they are located on the territory of the Russian Federation. Alexander Melnichenko, representative of the Department of Counterintelligence Protection of State Interests in the Sphere of Information Security of the SBU, said this at the Kyiv Stratcom Forum 2024.
According to him, another problem is that the owner of Telegram and its developers are citizens of the Russian Federation.
“Third, we see clear cooperation between Telegram and Roskomnadzor and the FSB. When the FSB needs to block any channel on the territory of the Russian Federation, Telegram carries out these instructions instantly,” Melnichenko said.
He noted that sometimes some of them can be blocked, but Telegram does not listen to the requests of Ukraine, as it does to the requests of the Russian Federation.
“Often such channels mislead people in the following way: they give 80% truthful information, and then 20% manipulative information in order to influence the Ukrainian audience. This “80 to 20” principle was used by Goebbels,” the SBU representative emphasized.
Possible restrictions on Telegram in Ukraine – latest news
Recently, a bill with restrictions for Telegram was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. It, among other things, provides for the identification of providers of platforms for public access to information as separate entities in the media sphere.
Prior to this, parliament assessed the Telegram ban. The administration of the social network has so far refused to make contact with the Ukrainian authorities. According to the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchishin, in the context of the spread of Russian propaganda, blocking the messenger seems “logical”.
Today, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, said that from the point of view of national security, Telegram can be used in favor of Ukraine.
