Telegram shortlink domain restored after day-long outage

The messaging app Telegram's t.me shortlink domain has returned online after an outage that began Monday and lasted for approximately a day. Telegram founder Pavel Durov confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that t.me links had "stopped working," preventing users from accessing public groups via the one-click links.

DomainME, the Montenegro-based registrar for the .me top-level domain, confirmed that the domain is now back online. Predrag Lešić, the company's CEO, stated in an email to TechCrunch that an official statement would be issued shortly.

Responding to Durov's initial post on X, DomainME stated that Telegram's t.me domain was "on hold due to OFAC compliance, but it is back online now." OFAC refers to the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which imposes economic sanctions on overseas entities and individuals deemed an economic national security risk to the United States.

The outage began after a "serverhold" block was placed on the domain. A serverhold typically signifies that the domain registrar has locked the domain for a specific reason. While the precise cause for the t.me domain's block has not been detailed, the mention of OFAC compliance suggests potential sanctions or regulatory actions by the U.S. government.