Fang Baoqiao points out that it is technically difficult to block Telegram, Russia once blocked the financial network by mistake and affected public services

The source said that the government plans to study the banning of Telegram because of the resurgence of "bottom" messages in recent months.

Fang Baoqiao, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Chamber of Commerce, said that Russia tried to block Telegram in the past, but in the process, it blocked some financial-related websites by mistake, which affected local public services and made the Russian government finally give up the blockade. Telegram.

Fang Baoqiao described Telegram as a company that "grew up during the war" and was constantly being blocked and evading and changing IP addresses. He emphasized that the Hong Kong government needs relevant law enforcement and technical departments to conduct research on whether Hong Kong can block Telegram at a technical level, and how He said that as far as he knew, there was a discussion about it a few years ago, but after research, it was found that it was not technically feasible, and it was not implemented in the end.

Telegram has servers all over the world, the Russian government tried to block it and gave up

Fang Baoqiao said on the Hong Kong and Taiwan program "Millennium" this morning (19th) that Telegram itself is a Russian company and is widely welcomed by locals. By 2018, the Russian government asked the company to hand over encrypted surveillance, and was subjected to The company refused, and the Russian government decided to launch a blockade. The company immediately changed its registration to the British Virgin Islands (BVI). It is reported that it is headquartered in Dubai and currently has servers all over the world.

Fang described Telegram as a company that "raised up during the war". When Russia blocked it, the company kept changing its IP address or using the cloud networks of big companies such as Google, Cloudflare and Amazon to evade the blockade.

He explained that an IP address is like a phone number. When an IP address is no longer used by a certain website, it is used by other websites. Therefore, when the Russian side kept blocking the Telegram IP address, it blocked the financial website by mistake. In the event that the service could not be used normally, the Russian government finally gave up the two-year blockade.

Fang Baoqiao, Honorary President of the Hong Kong Information Technology Chamber of Commerce (file photo)

Fang Baoqiao: We must consider whether Hong Kong technology can block Telegram

He reiterated that if the Hong Kong government wants to block Telegram, it needs to measure whether it can be done at the technical level. He also estimates that because the staff of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner continues to deal with the "bottom" notification, the work is very busy, and some people offer suggestions to block the hope. , "But at the technical level, the Russian government can't do it. Is it possible for us (Hong Kong) to do it?" , it is unknown whether the current technology has been improved.

The removal of the program does not affect users who have already downloaded it

As for whether the off-the-shelf program can be prevented from being used, Fang Baoqiao said that users who have already downloaded the program will not be affected, but the program may not be updated if there are new functions in the future. However, Android phones can download APK (Android installation package), other Users can also use the web version, or even use it over the wall.

It takes time for social platforms to handle complaints

He also said that he noticed that Telegram's response to the incident emphasized that the company is opposed to the "bottom", and suggested that the department could email the company to deal with the "bottom" information. e-mail.

He said that social platforms around the world may receive tens of millions of complaints every day, and it will take a long time to process them. Asked the left for a month without a response."

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