Budanov spoke about blocking Telegram in Ukraine
1 March 08:25
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, said that back in 2024, he proposed restricting Telegram in Ukraine. But not blocking it.
According to RBC-Ukraine, Budanov said this during a telethon, as reported by Komersant.
“I proposed this back in 2024. Not to block it, but to, let’s say, tidy it up a bit and slow it down. So that Telegram would be a messenger. What it should be,” Budanov said in response to a question.
Budanov added that he is not against channels on Telegram. But he is in favor of channel owners being de-anonymized so that it is clear who is behind a particular channel (in Russia, channel owners are required to register in a special registry maintained by Roskomnadzor, ed.).
“But if you want an anonymous Telegram channel that is, by all accounts, a classic media outlet, and you also use it to conduct subversive and disruptive activities, to recruit people, that’s a slightly different issue,” he said.
Budanov added that Telegram in Ukraine can be regulated. But he immediately emphasized that, in his opinion, “many people may not like it.” When asked whether any steps against Telegram should be expected in the future, Budanov replied briefly, “We’ll see.”
Why the issue of blocking Telegram has arisen in Ukraine
After the terrorist attack in Lviv on February 22, in which a police officer was killed, as well as explosions in Mykolaiv and Dnipro, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky began talking about the need to block Telegram because it is being used for “recruitment.” This was stated by the deputy head of the President’s Office, Iryna Vereshchuk.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko also spoke out in favor of measures against the messenger. But he proposes to restrict it, not block it.
“It is impossible to ban it completely. We need to talk about restricting it and ensuring the work of law enforcement agencies, which will allow us to reduce the number of terrorist crimes,” the minister explained.
It should be noted that the idea of a ban has been criticized from virtually all sides. For example, a number of deputies noted that it is simply impossible to block the messenger if Ukraine plans to comply with EU legislation. Also, Telegram founder Pavel Durov is not subject to Ukrainian jurisdiction, so it makes no sense to demand that he restrict the messenger and de-anonymize channels.
It was also noted that banning Telegram would not stop Russians from recruiting Ukrainians. They would recruit agents through other social networks—Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Viber.
Criticism also came from ordinary Ukrainians. Many compared the politicians’ statements to what is currently happening in Russia. As is known, the Russian regime has allegedly already decided on the date for blocking Telegram on the territory of the Russian Federation – the beginning of April this year.
