The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine's Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, a deputy from the Servant of the People party, Mykyta Poturayev, stated that Ukraine does not have the resources to effectively regulate the Telegram messenger and will not have them in the near future.
"We do not have the ability and will not have the ability to control such platforms. This applies to all social networks. If we do not respond to these threats, we may lose the country," Poturayev said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
He stressed that while it is technically possible to shut down such platforms, it would be very costly for everyone who uses them. Poturayev believes that the situation with Telegram is a serious mistake, since the majority of the population uses this platform, which is not subject to moderation and has ties to Russia. “We cannot win the information war, let alone the war in general, until a bill is passed that would require platforms to either establish a dialogue with the Ukrainian state or close them down,” he added.
Earlier, the head of the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting, Olga Gerasimyuk, expressed her position on the need to regulate Telegram in Ukraine. She commented on the recent blocking of bots of Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Ukraine is working with European partners to include the messenger in the list of digital platforms subject to regulation. "In such cases, platforms can be fined or blocked for violating the law, as is the case with other companies on this list," Gerasimyuk explained.
