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TechRadar
TechRadar
Rene Milman

US sanctions on rogue VPN accidentally break Telegram's short links worldwide

The Telegram logo appears on the screen of a smartphone that rests on top of a laptop keyboard.
  • The US Treasury sanctioned First VPN Service for aiding ransomware gangs
  • Complying with the sanctions, the .ME registry wrongly suspended Telegram's entire t.me domain
  • The domain was restored roughly 19 hours later after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov flagged the issue online

If you clicked a Telegram link on Monday and stared at a blank screen, you weren't alone. Every shortlink starting with 't.me' suddenly vanished from the global internet, breaking group invites, profile shares, and channel links for roughly a billion users worldwide.

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