Deputy Vyborny proposed banning foreign messengers for civil servants

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Security Committee Anatoly Vyborny (United Russia) proposed banning civil servants from using foreign instant messengers for personal purposes. He sent a letter with this initiative to Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government Dmitry Grigorenko.

Mr. Vyborny argues that in our time, “leaks of confidential information can be irreversible.” According to him, this is especially important for civil servants who have access to documents for official use “and other sensitive papers.” “The best way to avoid the consequences of an information leak is to prevent its very possibility. Therefore, we need to strengthen digital security. We cannot give the attackers the slightest chance,” the deputy said “Izvestia”.

By law, civil servants can use foreign instant messengers for personal purposes and for work communication. In June, the State Duma adopted a law that introduced fines of up to 700 thousand rubles for officials for using the messenger to transmit payment documents and personal data when providing state and municipal services, selling goods and services by banks and state-owned companies.

As Kommersant reported, the Ministry of Digital Development has prepared a draft updated plan for the digital transformation of public administration, which provides for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in standard processes of officials. Among other things, it is expected that officials will use Russian instant messengers more actively.

Details – in the material “Kommersant” “AI bots will be connected to officials”.

Laura Keffer