Reference

Where Telegram is blocked in 2026

Telegram is blocked outright in a handful of countries and restricted in more, often for a few days around protests, elections or exams. This list covers national blocks we could confirm from sources, as of 9 October 2026.

Blocked or restricted now

Country	Status	Since	Proxies
Russia^1,2,3,4	Heavily restricted	February 2026	Proxy list
Iran⁵	Blocked	May 2018	Proxy list
China⁵	Blocked	July 2015	Proxy list
Turkmenistan^6,7	Blocked	By 2019	Proxy list
Pakistan⁵	Blocked on the largest ISP	November 2017	Proxy list
Cuba⁵	Blocked	July 2021	Proxy list
Nepal^8,9	Banned	July 2025	Proxy list
Somalia⁵	Ban announced	August 2023	—

Russia

The regulator began slowing Telegram nationwide on 10 February 2026. By 16 April OONI measured it reachable in about 11% of tests. VPN blocking intensified after the September 2026 Duma elections. An earlier ban ran from April 2018 to June 2020.

Iran

Voice calls were blocked from April 2017 and the whole app from 1 May 2018. Iran is the largest market for Telegram proxies in our data.

China

Blocked behind the Great Firewall since 2015.

Turkmenistan

Telegram is unavailable along with other major messengers, and VPN apps have been blocked since 2019.

Pakistan

Blocked on PTCL on the regulator's instructions since 18 November 2017.

Cuba

Blocked during the July 2021 protests.

Nepal

Banned on 18 July 2025 over fraud and money-laundering concerns. Mobile operators enforce the ban, while many fixed-line ISPs have not. It stayed in place when the September 2025 social media ban was lifted.

Somalia

The government announced a ban on Telegram, TikTok and a betting site in August 2023.

Blocked in the past

Country	When	What happened
India⁵	16–22 June 2026	Nationwide block around the NEET medical exam retest.
Vietnam^10,11	June–July 2025	Block ordered from 2 June 2025; access returned on 9 July without an official reversal.
Kenya¹²	25 June 2025	Web access blocked for a day during protests; also during school exams in 2023 and 2024.
Iraq⁵	6–13 August 2023	Blocked over leaked personal data, lifted after the channels were removed.
Spain⁵	22–25 March 2024	A court-ordered suspension, revoked as disproportionate.
Brazil⁵	March 2022, April 2023	Two court-ordered suspensions of two and three days.
Azerbaijan⁵	September–November 2020	Restricted during the Karabakh war.
Indonesia⁵	July–August 2017	Partial block over extremist content.

Where blocks show up in Telegram itself

Blocks leave a trace in the channels people create to get around them. Among proxy and VPN channels with 1,000+ subscribers in our index that are tied to one country, 1,046 are about Iran, 273 about Russia, 105 about China and 20 about Turkmenistan. Iran's eight-year ban built the largest circumvention scene on Telegram; Russia's is the fastest growing. Who shares proxies on Telegram.

What a block means in practice

Most blocks target Telegram's servers and the patterns of its traffic, so the app hangs on “Connecting…”. A proxy hides both: the network sees a connection to an ordinary server. That is why proxy lists exist for each of the countries above. How to add a proxy. Where proxies get blocked as well, a VPN is the fallback: proxy or VPN.

Some blocks only cover part of the internet. Pakistan's applies to its largest provider, Nepal's is enforced by mobile operators more than by fixed-line ones, and Kenya's 2025 block hit the web version for a day. If Telegram fails on one connection, try another before reaching for a proxy.

Sources

Status as of 2026-10-09. Blocks change quickly; for live measurements, see OONI Explorer.