The press release was prepared by Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of KIIS

During September 1-6, 2024, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey "Omnibus", to which, on its own initiative, added questions about Ukrainians' perception of security threats from social networks and attitudes to the Telegram ban. By the method of computer-assistedtelephoneinterviews(CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting), 1,015 respondents were interviewed in all regions of Ukraine (territory under the control of the Government of Ukraine). The survey was conducted with adult (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, lived on the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine. The sample did not include residents of territories that are temporarily not controlled by the authorities of Ukraine (at the same time, part of the respondents are IDPs who moved from the occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who went abroad after February 24, 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 4.1% for indicators close to 50%, 3.5% for indicators close to 25%, 2.5% - for indicators close to 10%, 1.8% - for indicators close to 5%.

Under conditions of war, in addition to the specified formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. Factors that can affect the quality of results in "wartime" conditions were previously cited by the KIIS.

In general, we believe that the obtained results are still highly representative and allow a fairly reliable analysis of the public moods of the population.

Ukrainians are usually quite critical of initiatives to limit Internet resources, as they mostly perceive it as unjustified politically motivated actions of the authorities to limit the rights and freedoms of citizens (according to the data of the KIIS for NDI, freedom of speech is in the top three main criteria of a fully functioning democracy[1]). It is hard to believe now, but by 2022 even the ban on Russian social networks was perceived quite critically. So, in 2020, 53% considered banning Russian social networks a mistake, and 29% considered it the right decision[2]. Although the attitude towards the ban of Russian resources in particular has definitely changed after the full-scale invasion, at the beginning of 2024, a KIIS survey showed that 49% consider more active state regulation of information on the Internet (we emphasize - we did not ask about the ban) to be a restriction of the rights and freedoms of citizens (considered it is necessary actions for the protection of the state - 44%). Moreover, this indicator has increased significantly since the summer of 2022 (from 30% to 49%), that is, during the period of full-scale war, citizens have become even more critical of possible restrictions[3].

Against this background, after a full-scale invasion, Telegram has emerged as a leader as a source of information for the majority of the population. According to the results of a survey conducted by KIIS for OPORA in May 2024, 73% received information from social networks in the last 7 days. Among these users, 78% talked about using Telegram itself[4]. Other surveys with similar questions also show Telegram's lead.

Along with this, from time to time some representatives of the authorities and the public sector paid attention to the risks associated with the use of Telegram. In particular, on September 6, 2024, another news appeared that the head of intelligence K. Budanov called Telegram a threat to national security. In general, the discussions about Telegram became significantly more active after the arrest of P. Durov, the founder and owner of Telegram, in France.

To begin with, we generally asked to what extent, in the opinion of Ukrainians, the threat to the security of the country and the population is posed by the spread of Russian disinformation and propaganda in social networks. As can be seen in the graph below, the vast majority of Ukrainians (71%) recognize that the spread of Russian disinformation and propaganda in social networks is quite or even a very serious threat. At the same time, 33% of them consider this threat to be one of the biggest, while the remaining 38% say that this threat, although serious, is not one of the biggest.

Сlaim that it is not a significant threat or there is no threat at all - 23% (although 18% of them admit that there is some harm).

Graph1. In your opinion, how serious or not is the threat to the security of Ukraine and Ukrainians posed by the spread of Russian disinformation and propaganda in social networks such as Telegram, YouTube, Facebook, etc.?

Next, we asked questions about the general attitude to the ban on Telegram in Ukraine. Currently, only 9% of Ukrainians immediately say that it should be completely banned. At the same time, only 26% believe that it should not be controlled in any way.

Instead, the majority of Ukrainians (54%) believe that it should not be completely banned, but that certain restrictions and controls should be introduced - such as blocking certain channels, etc.

Graph2. How do you feel about the ban on the use of Telegram in Ukraine?

The graph below shows the extent to which respondents in general consider Russian disinformation and propaganda in social networks to be a serious threat to security. Even among those who consider the threat very serious, only 15% are now in favor of a complete ban on Telegram in Ukraine.

Graph3. Attitude towards the Telegram ban in terms of the perception of security threats from social networks

Finally, respondents who currently do not support a complete ban on Telegram in Ukraine were asked an additional question whether they would support the ban if Telegram owners refused to block certain Telegram channels. Moreover, the experiment was implemented and each respondent was offered only one of the types of Telegram channels, which in a hypothetical scenario Telegram owners refused to block. The obtained results are shown below in the graph (note that respondents who were immediately in favor of a complete ban on Telegram were counted here as those who support the ban).

So, if the owners of Telegram categorically refuse to block channels that spread Russian propaganda and disinformation, then 60% of Ukrainians would support a complete ban on Telegram (32% would not support it).

At the same time, support for the ban is noticeably higher (at the level of the vast majority of society) if Telegram owners do not block the channels used by the Russian occupiers for communication, as well as if they do not block the channels for the distribution of drugs. Thus, in case of refusal to block the channels of the Russian occupiers, which are used for communication, 71% will support the ban (21% will not support it). In case of refusal to block drug distribution channels, 70% will support the ban (20% will not support).

Graph4. And if the owners of Telegram absolutely refuse to block Telegram channels that ... , then would you support or not the ban of Telegram in Ukraine?

A. Hrushetskyi, comments on the survey results:

The results of the survey show that there is currently neither tangible support for the ban on Telegram in society, nor persistent resistance to such a ban.

Ukrainians take a fairly balanced and constructive position that it is not necessary to go as far as bans, but at the same time they really recognize the importance and need to block dangerous telegram channels. Moreover, in the case of a frank position of the owners of Telegram to refuse to block dangerous channels, Ukrainians will count themselves in the camp of those who will support the ban (and not in the camp of "consistent supporters of freedom of speech").

For representatives of the authorities, it is worth understanding that if it is necessary to ban Telegram for the safety of Ukraine and Ukrainians, the public must receive truly objective and convincing evidence of hostile activities and refusal of cooperation by the owners.

Annex 1. Formulation of questions from the questionnaire

In your opinion, how serious or not is the threat to the security of Ukraine and Ukrainians posed by the spread of Russian disinformation and propaganda in social networks such as Telegram, YouTube, Facebook, etc.?

How do you feel about the ban on the use of Telegram in Ukraine?

ONLY 1 OF 3 OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WAS ASKED TO THE RESPONDENT (RANDOMLY SELECTED)

And if the owners of Telegram categorically refuse to block Telegram channels that spread Russian disinformation and propaganda, then would you support or not ban Telegram in Ukraine?

And if the owners of Telegram categorically refuse to block Telegram channels that are used to addict people and sell them drugs, then would you support or not ban Telegram in Ukraine?

And if the owners of Telegram categorically refuse to block the Telegram channels used by the Russian military to communicate with each other to wage war against Ukraine and Ukrainians, then would you support or not ban Telegram in Ukraine?