Ukrainian chatbots, including those belonging to the State Security Service and the Security Service of Ukraine, have been blocked on the Telegram platform. This move, according to the head of the Rada's Freedom of Speech Committee, Yurchyshyn, is the FSB's response to Ukraine's attempts to influence the popular messenger through Apple.
"The Ukrainian authorities, in particular through the involvement of the Apple platform, managed to find a solution to block Russian propaganda in TG. Of course, the FSB did not like this and they forced Durov to block what was related to Ukraine. First of all, military operations. Logically expecting that part of society would perceive this not as an attack from the Russian special services, but on the principle of "it was not worth criticizing". It is very easy to calculate," said Yurchyshyn.
His last sentence refers to the wave of criticism directed at Yurchyshyn that swept through a number of Telegram channels (mostly close to Bankova) yesterday. They wrote that the MP's statements provoked Telegram to take appropriate action (Yurchyshyn was among those who called for restricting the messenger's work in Ukraine).
As a reminder, the Ukrainian authorities have asked Apple to pressure Telegram to block a number of channels in Ukraine, as Pavel Durov himself said. At the time, he said that Telegram would ban accounts and bots that collect coordinates for attacks.
After that, the Ukrainian bots were blocked.
