The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine announced the restrictions after Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, presented the council with evidence of possible Russian spying on the platform.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Security Council's anti-disinformation center, made it clear in a statement on Telegram itself that the restrictions apply only to official devices, not personal phones.
Photo: GI
Telegram is widely used in both Ukraine and Russia and has become a key source of information since Russia and Ukraine went to war in February 2022. But Ukrainian security officials have repeatedly voiced concerns about its use in war.
Based in Dubai, Telegram was founded by Pavel Durov, a Russian native who left Russia in 2014. Durov was arrested upon landing at an airport in France in August as part of an investigation into criminal activities on Telegram.
The Security Council of Ukraine said that Mr. Budanov said that Russian special services could access Telegram messages, including deleted messages, as well as users' personal data.
“I have always supported and continue to support freedom of speech, but the problem with Telegram is not a problem of freedom of speech, but a problem of national security,” Budanov said in his statement.
However, after the decision was announced, Telegram issued a statement saying that it has never disclosed anyone's data or the contents of any messages.
"Telegram has never provided any message data to any country, including Russia. Deleted messages are permanently deleted and are technically unrecoverable," Telegram said.
The company said every instance described as “leaked messages” had been proven to be “the result of a compromised device, whether through seizure or malware.”
According to the Telemetrio database, there are about 33,000 active Telegram channels in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Ukrainian military commanders and officials, regularly publish updates on the war and report on important decisions on Telegram.
Ukrainian media estimates that 75% of Ukrainians use the app to communicate and found that 72% considered it an important source of information as of the end of last year.
Hoang Hai (according to Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ukraine-cam-cac-co-quan-nha-nuoc-su-dung-telegram-vi-ly-do-an-ninh-post313236.html
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