The Verkhovna Rada may soon consider draft law No. 11115, which provides for new rules for Telegram and other information sharing platforms.
The document obliges such services to have an official representative in Ukraine to interact with government authorities. However, if the platform is already registered in the European Union, a separate representative in Ukraine is not required.
One of the authors of the bill, MP Mykola Kniazhytsky, calls the initiative "soft." However, he does not rule out that it could be significantly strengthened by the second reading — up to the possibility of blocking platforms that do not comply with Ukrainian legislation.
According to him, the document is designed to give the state additional tools to counter the use of information platforms for hostile purposes. This applies not only to Telegram, but also to other digital services.
In addition, the bill provides for the expansion of the powers of the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting. The regulator will be able to require platforms to disclose their ownership structure and sources of funding.
At the same time, the head of the parliamentary committee on humanitarian and information policy, Mykyta Poturayev, noted that the current version of the document does not fully comply with European standards. Despite this, it may be adopted in the first reading with further revisions.
Let us remind you that in parallel, the Verkhovna Rada is considering another high-profile bill - on the deanonymization of Telegram channels, which can also significantly change the rules for operating digital platforms in Ukraine.
