US Sanctions Accidentally Disable Telegram's Shortened Links Worldwide

Millions of Telegram users worldwide experienced a sudden disruption when shortened Telegram links stopped working, displaying blank white screens instead. This issue was not due to an internal app malfunction or a cyberattack but resulted from unintended consequences of US government sanctions. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a VPN service called First VPN Service, which had been aiding ransomware groups and cybercriminals. Included in the sanctions was a list of internet addresses linked to the VPN, among them a Telegram public support channel for the service.

Because the domain registrar in Montenegro, responsible for the relevant internet suffix, had to comply with US law, it faced a technical limitation: it could not block a specific path within a website, such as a single Telegram channel. Consequently, the registrar took the drastic step of disabling Telegram's entire shortened domain, effectively removing all shortened links from the global domain name system. While the Telegram app itself remained functional, all shortened links shared by users became inaccessible.

The issue was resolved after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov publicly contacted the domain registrar via the social media platform X, seeking clarification. Once the cause was identified, Telegram promptly removed the offending channels from its platform. After the registrar confirmed the removal of the problematic links, the shortened domain was reinstated, restoring normal service after approximately 19 hours of global outage. This incident highlights the vulnerabilities in internet infrastructure and the wide-reaching impact of sanctions enforcement on digital services.