The News
Ukraine has told government and army officials to stop using the messaging app Telegram, warning that Russia may have access to data and communication on the popular communication channel.
Telegram has become a vital messenger service on both sides of the war, and has been widely used by Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, despite long-standing concerns that Russia could compromise communications via the app.
Ukraine’s National Cyber Security Coordination Center announced on Friday that it had decided to restrict the use of Telegram by government agencies, critical infrastructure facilities, and the military.
A top Ukrainian intelligence official cautioned that Russia could likely access private communications, deleted messages, and personal data on the app, warning that “it is an issue of national security.”
SIGNALS
Telegram is a central communication channel in Ukraine
In Ukraine, Telegram has become a key communications channel, with more than 70% of Ukrainians relying on it for news. It has also been used widely during the war for everything from organizing evacuations to sending alerts about incoming missile attacks, the Financial Times reported, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy often uses it to make announcements. But the unmoderated app has also raised concerns, with some calling for a total ban, which Kyiv enforced for the Russian social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. One lawmaker told RBC-Ukraine that either the app should be forced to cooperate with the government or get outlawed: “I don’t see any other option to avoid losing — not just the information war, but the war in general.”
France cracks down on Telegram over lack of moderation
Telegram’s laissez faire approach to content moderation led to the arrest of its CEO Pavel Durov last month in Paris, where he is accused of allowing criminal activity on the app. Telegram’s opposition to censorship or external interference made it popular among dissidents in authoritarian regimes, but it has also become an online haven for terrorists, criminals, and extremists, and has been used to coordinate terrorist attacks in Paris and Berlin. In Ukraine, the lack of oversight has sparked worries, with experts warning that the platform is flooded with propaganda to destabilize Ukrainian society. The EU is also concerned about Russian propaganda on Telegram, with a top commissioner saying that “Telegram is an issue.”
Telegram has become the last window into Russia
Russia has cracked down on access to communications with the West, making Telegram one of the “last remaining windows for observing and understanding” Russia, researchers at the Atlantic Council said in a report. While the app’s Russian-language content is dominated by pro-Kremlin voices, independent Russian news outlets are also popular, and Western outlets such as The New York Times have gotten around Moscow’s ban on them by starting Telegram channels, the report said. The Kremlin has been hard at work establishing control over Telegram: Russia has attempted to develop software to identify anonymous social media users, and in several cases, Kremlin officials have been able to access private Telegram chats. “Anonymity on [Telegram] is a myth,” a Russian lawmaker wrote after anonymous blackmailers were arrested last year.