Just for the context GUR is Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Agency. Practically like the CIA is in the US.
The relevant part, translated:
BBC: You recently spoke about Telegram being a problem for Ukraine.
Kyrylo Budanov: I can repeat that again for you. It is a huge problem.
BBC: And what can be done about it?
Kyrylo Budanov: Or, as they say, to put it in order - at least legally force everyone to register, so it is clear who is behind which media resource, and Telegram has already definitely acquired the status of media. There is no question of influence or pressure - the issue is not about that. If you want to promote your position - and it may not please someone and that is normal in a democratic society - take responsibility. What are you afraid to say who you are?
BBC: So you’re talking about anonymous Telegram channels?
Kyrylo Budanov: They are all anonymous. Do you know a single Telegram channel that openly said I am this person? That’s the answer.
BBC: Could their closure become a solution to this problem? Blocking?
Kyrylo Budanov: Temporarily yes, but I still believe they need to be forced to register. This will not be pressure on the press. In a democratic society, I say again, you cannot simply exert pressure…
Why am I even telling you this? You are a media representative. Would you be very happy if someone came to you and said: that’s it, from now on you write like this? Of course, that would be abnormal. But being afraid to say who you are is also wrong. And throwing anything into the ether on behalf of an anonymous person, excuse me, paid from completely different parts of the world is also abnormal.
“We’re not pressuring them, we are merely holding them accountable”
Homie needs to stfu and realize that he’s the middleman in a proxy war and stop saying stupid shit in public that could damage his ability to do his job.
And it’s incredibly stupid shit.
Lmao, I like this kind of political commentary
It’s interesting how the biggest comments either pretend there is no war, or remove Ukrainian self-determination from discussion of it.
Seems kind of like those people who try to lump in Palestinians in Gaza with some imaginary monolith of “all Muslims” in the middle east.
Ukrainian self determination LMFAOOOOOOO
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Yea Ukrainian government does want to make it a censored state. Good luck with that and joining the EU with such positions lol
Well it’s not as bad
It’s the exact same intent, to remove privacy and anonymity online.
Last time I checked, Ukraine is fighting a war against a Russian invasion.
During World War II, the US censored pictures of dead soldiers until 1943. And that was without a war happening on American soil.
And that was wrong
In Ukraine they have real bad censorship ideas and I’m against censorship of any form. What I’m the most worried about is the fact that one of the military related ministers (or maybe ex ministers I don’t remember) has the highest chance of becoming the next president (at least the last time I saw the stats). That’s a straight way to dictatorship and also the government tries their best to make the people truly aggressive to Russians (no matter who they are) and even kinda fascistic is general. There’s nothing good about it, even in the current situation. And at the same time they’re accusing Russia in doing the same (which is true but doesn’t justify Ukraine) lol
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We had that type of bullshitery here way long before the war started. Also, the invasion doesn’t stop the corrupt government from stealing millions of hryvnas.
In Gaza, I think the claim is “The invasion doesn’t stop the corrupt Hamas government from stealing food”…
Again, the solution is the invading country leaves and stops interfering.
Stealing food is on whole other level and ai’m not sure whether comparison Gaza to Ukraine is correct. I can only speak about my country, and the fact is the mass censorship and bullshittery were NOT caused by the external agressor and thus getting rid of them will NOT help the fundamental issues here.
In 2014, Ukraine overthrew a corrupt Russian puppet president and called for a new election. Instead of participating, the puppet fled, and Ukrainians discovered his palace.
Were you aware of this?
I’m not a political expert so I can’t say anything about that. I said what I said about what I knew well
That didn’t stop you from speculating earlier.
In most “democratic” society authors have the right to be published anonymously
If you want to promote your position - and it may not please someone and that is normal in a democratic society - take responsibility. What are you afraid to say who you are?
While I understand the problems the propaganda machines of Russia and China (among other) causes, this here is some stupid shit
Try to criticize Putin openly while living in Russia, speak up for the freedom to love and have sex with whoever you want in Uganda or publish pictures of Muhammad as a dog and sign all of it with your name and see what will happen.
Anonymity is a double edged sword. While being “nice to have” in a democracy it’s a “must have” in a dictatorship.
I think a lot of people might be sympathetic to the idea that in wartime, you need to be stricter because of the incredibly high stakes. That Ukraine is at war, so they need to find and deal with these sources of disinformation.
I think those same people need to realize that the policies never get rolled back to a more liberal state when the war is over.
It sucks that this is a systemic advantage for authoritarians. It really sucks. It feels bad. But it’s the handicap you have to accept to resist authoritarianism.
Yeah leave us alone
And animity keeps democracies alive. For without anonymity, democracies would soon turn into dictatorships.
Good luck with that.
Why are people still using telegram anyway… Much better options out there
People always complain on Lemmy about Telegram and point at alternatives that are theoretically better in terms of security and privacy.
Yet the security and privacy on Lemmy are good enough that you routinely see governments complaining about how they can’t get at the info on Telegram like this story here, all while Telegram has a UI and experience that blows every competing messenger completely away.
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To be frank I have used it since it started way back and it continues to have the best user experience among messengers. I myself don’t use it for any crucial information but as a messenger with it’s featureset it’s second to none. When a better alternative pops up which will have a better UI and such an extensive featureset I will probably switch over
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Excellent UI (WhatsApp keeps copying them, but they’re still ahead)
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Open-source client
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Good support for bots (very useful for group mods)
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Piracy
Because 90% of my contacts use Telegram
