The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized that blocking Telegram will solve the situation only temporarily.
The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, once again emphasizes that Telegram is a huge problem for Ukraine, but blocking channels can only solve the situation temporarily.
In an interview with the BBC, he said that a solution to the problem could be the registration of tg channels, “to make it clear who is behind which media resource, and Telegram has definitely acquired media status.”
“There is no question of influence or pressure – that’s not the question. If you want to prove your position – and someone may not like it and this is normal in a democratic society – bear responsibility. Why are you afraid to say who you are?” he noted. Budanov.
When asked whether this concerns anonymous channels, Budanov noted that, in his opinion, they are all anonymous.
“Do you know at least one telegram channel that said directly that I am me? That’s the answer,” noted the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.
He added that closing them or blocking Telegram could be a solution to the problem, but only temporarily.
“Still, I think that we need to force them to register. This will not be pressure on the press. In a democratic society, I say again, you can’t just put pressure… But being afraid to say that you are you is also wrong. And on behalf of an anonymous person broadcasting, excuse me, everything that will be paid for from completely different parts of the world is also not normal,” the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized.
To the question about that. Whether he himself uses Telegram, Budanov noted that he looks at it from time to time, when certain events occur, in order to understand how Russian society perceives them, in order to look at the results of certain intelligence operations, or high-profile events that may have some impact. -some influence.
At the same time, Budanov noted, this is an exception for him as the head of the department, and in general, intelligence officers are absolutely prohibited from having Telegram or other social networks.
Problem with Telegram messenger in Ukraine
As UNIAN wrote, representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly spoken out in favor of blocking or at least limiting the operation of the Telegram platform due to the uncontrolled spread of Russian propaganda and the reluctance of the platform owners to make contact with the Ukrainian authorities.
In March, a group of people’s deputies registered a bill in the Rada that proposes to prohibit government agencies from having their own pages on “opaque” social networks, such as Telegram.
