The short domain t.me is currently not accessible. The address belongs to the Telegram Messenger, which uses it for short links to channels or member profiles. The cause of the block is not fully clarified, but could be related to US sanctions against a VPN provider.
The domain is currently set to the status “registryHold” by the registry, the NIC (Network Information Center) of Montenegro. This can – according to the explanation at ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), indicate a problem with the domain that must be resolved by the owner together with the registry.
The messenger service uses t.me to facilitate sharing links to channels – this function is therefore not usable in many Telegram clients at the moment. At least in the current version of the Telegram Messenger on iOS and macOS, the app still uses the broken domain. Anyone who wants to share a Telegram channel with friends via a link can alternatively replace t.me with telegram.me – this domain still works.
Was OFAC to blame?
As Jonah Aragon, employee of the NGO Privacy Guides, suspects, a US sanction could be to blame for the block. The control authority of the US Treasury Department OFAC, responsible for international sanctions, placed the Ukrainian VPN provider FirstVPN on the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals) sanctions list on July 13 – and this service uses the direct link to its Telegram channel as a contact address in addition to domains from the .com, .net, and .org name spaces.
