Ukraine has restricted the use of the Telegram messaging app by government officials, military personnel, and other defense and critical infrastructure workers, citing national security concerns.
The ban was announced by the National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity (NCCC) in a post shared on Facebook.
“I have always advocated and advocate for freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not a question of freedom of speech, it is a matter of national security,” Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, said.
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) said that Telegram is “actively used by the enemy” to launch cyber attacks, spread phishing messages and malicious software, track users’ whereabouts, and gather intelligence to help the Russian military target Ukraine’s facilities with drones and missiles.
To that end, the use of Telegram has been proscribed on official devices of employees of state authorities, military personnel, employees of the security and defense sector, as well as enterprises that are operators of critical infrastructure.
It’s worth noting that the ban does not extend to personal phones, or people who use the app as part of their official duties.
In a statement shared with Reuters, Telegram said it has not provided any personal data to any country, including Russia, and that deleted messages are permanently deleted with no way of recovering them.
The development comes weeks after Telegram’s CEO was arrested in France and then released on bail in connection with an investigation into the use of the popular messaging app for child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraud.