Bill on Telegram regulation in Ukraine to be submitted by the end of September

Bill on Telegram regulation in Ukraine to be submitted by the end of September

This law is intended to force the messenger to disclose its ownership structure and, in case of refusal, to apply certain measures against it.

Initiators: Poturayev, Knyazhytskyi, Yurchyshyn (head of the Committee on Freedom of Speech).

The MPs apparently perceived Durov’s arrest as an opportunity to tighten the regulation of Telegram.

The Ukrainian MPs put forward two main requirements for Telegram: to ensure communication with the Ukrainian authorities on compliance with the law; to confirm the safety of the messenger for Ukrainians and "the absence of the FSB, other Russian government agencies and citizens of the aggressor country among the owners of the app".

Knyazhytskyi said that Telegram is currently operating "in a grey area of legislation" and is therefore being used "in operations against Ukraine - from information operations to break down Ukrainian resistance to aggression to the direct collection and use of sensitive state data and personal data of citizens in armed aggression".