Telegram’s core t[.]me domain has been placed on serverHold at the .me registry, a registry-level status that removes the domain from the global DNS and breaks every t[.]me short link worldwide.
WHOIS records confirm the domain now carries eight status flags, including serverHold, clientDeleteProhibited, and serverDeleteProhibited, with an update timestamp of 2026-07-13T19:24:55Z.
The domain remains registered under GoDaddy.com, LLC as registrar, with a creation date of 2010-05-20 and an expiry date not until 2035-05-20, ruling out non-renewal as the cause.
Name servers still point to Google’s cloud infrastructure (ns-cloud-b1 through b4.googledomains.com), indicating the DNS delegation itself is intact but the registry has overridden resolution at a higher level.
serverHold is an EPP status code that only the domain’s registry — in this case the .me registry, operated by Identity Digital — can apply, and it takes precedence over any registrar or DNS-provider setting.
Once active, it effectively disables the domain’s entire DNS zone, meaning the website, associated email, and every dependent service stop resolving anywhere on the internet. This differs from clientHold, which registrars apply for issues like unverified contact details; serverHold is reserved for registry-level actions such as fraud investigations, security concerns, legal disputes, or abuse flags.
Neither Telegram, the .me registry, nor the backend operator, Identity Digital, has issued a public statement explaining the suspension as of this writing. The lack of accompanying clientHold or transfer-related status codes suggests the action originated from the registry side rather than from Telegram’s registrar account, though the exact trigger — whether a security incident, compliance dispute, or administrative error — remains unconfirmed.
Independent outage trackers have not logged app-level disruptions to Telegram’s core messaging service, implying the impact is currently isolated to the t[.]me short-link and web-preview domain rather than Telegram’s primary infrastructure.
Until the registry lifts the hold, links relying on t[.]me — including invite links, channel previews, and shared message URLs — will fail to resolve globally, even though the Telegram app itself may continue functioning through its primary domains and IP-based connections.
Restoration typically requires the domain’s registrant or registrar to resolve the underlying registry concern before the status is cleared, a process that industry precedent suggests can take anywhere from hours to several days depending on the nature of the issue.
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