Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, gave a long interview to «Radio Charter». Among other topics, he also said that the Telegram messenger poses a threat to national security.
Kyrylo Budanov believes that Telegram should be strictly regulated in Ukraine because of the threat to national security.
«Telegram is harmful. I have never been afraid to say this, and I am saying it directly. Telegram is, in fact, in our understanding, a threat to our national security»,” the DIU chief said.
The DIU chief also added that Telegram is currently the main source of news and information in Ukraine. The messenger was able to outperform all other sources in terms of popularity.
At the same time, Kyrylo Budanov says he does not want the messenger to be blocked in Ukraine. He believes that it is quite difficult to do so «, but possible». However, instead of blocking it, he suggests full registration of all Telegram channels.
«If you want to broadcast some news — please register, so that everyone understands that this channel is registered for Ivan Ivanov, a citizen of the Russian Federation living in Moscow, or for Mr… a citizen of Ukraine. And then he is personally responsible for what he posts there,» Budanov explained his position.
He adds that some channels post censored materials, and it’s not just about the war. And there is no responsibility for this. And there should be.
Budanov also touched upon the topic of blocking Russian social networks «Vkontakte» and «Odnoklassniki». He says that in the case of Telegram, it is more difficult to carry out a similar blocking for technical reasons. But it is possible.
As for the question of Twitter, whether it is harmful or not, Budanov replied: «Depends on who posts what on it». But in general, the head of the DIU does not consider X/Twitter to be harmful, because it is not a source that our enemy uses on a large scale.
As a reminder, at the beginning of the year representatives of the Ukrainian authorities began discussing the idea of fines and state control over Telegram. And last month, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, MP from the «Servant of the People» Mykyta Poturaiev said it was necessary to block Telegram in Ukraine.