Telegram’s widely used t.me short-link domain stopped resolving worldwide after the .me registry placed the domain under serverHold, cutting off browser access to links for profiles, channels, groups, bots, and individual posts.
The outage does not appear to affect Telegram’s messaging service itself. Users who are already signed in can continue using the app, while links beginning with t.me fail because the domain is not resolving through the Domain Name System, or DNS.
WHOIS records reviewed on July 14 show serverHold among several status codes attached to t.me. The record lists GoDaddy as the registrar and shows that the domain remains registered until May 20, 2035, ruling out an expired registration as the cause.
What is a serverHold?
A serverHold status is applied at the registry level and prevents a domain from being published in DNS. When someone opens a t.me link, their device asks DNS where the domain can be found. With the hold active, that lookup cannot return the information needed to reach Telegram’s short-link service.
Unlike a conventional website outage, the failure is not limited to a web server, hosting provider, or geographic region. Removing DNS delegation affects the domain globally, leaving links unusable even if Telegram’s systems behind them remain operational.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Seeks Answers
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov publicly contacted the .me (Montenegro) registry after the links stopped working. “Hey @domainME, t.me links stopped working. Can you look into it?” he wrote on X. No public response explaining the hold had appeared at the time of publication.
Neither Telegram, the .me registry nor registry backend operator Identity Digital has publicly stated why the status was applied. Without confirmation from one of the parties involved, claims about the cause remain unverified.
Outage Amid US OFAC Action
Some social media users have questioned whether the event could be connected to a US sanctions action published by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, on July 13.
The notice lists First VPN Service, also known as 1VPNS and FIRSTVPN, and includes t.me/FirstVPNService among several websites and contact details associated with the provider.
That reference identifies a specific Telegram channel path, not the t.me domain as a whole. No public evidence currently shows that OFAC requested or caused the registry-level hold, and the Treasury notice does not state that Telegram or t.me was sanctioned.
Therefore, although the timing and the inclusion of a t.me address have prompted questions online, whether the OFAC action is connected to the DNS outage remains unknown.
What Now?
With t.me removed from DNS, the outage has disrupted one of Telegram’s main gateways for sharing channels, groups, profiles, bots, and posts outside the app. Restoring the domain will require the serverHold status to be removed at the registry level, although some users may continue to experience failures while DNS records update.
Telegram has asked the .ME registry to investigate, but until the registry, Telegram, or Identity Digital provides an explanation, the reason for the action, including any possible connection to the OFAC notice, remains unknown.
(Top/Featured GIF via Dudenas on Dribbble)
