Is Telegram Banned? A Country-by-Country Status (2026)

Telegram has more than a billion users — but whether you can actually download and use it depends a lot on where you are. It's freely available across most of the world, blocked outright in a few countries, and has faced on-and-off suspensions and app-store removals in others. Here's the current picture as of August 2026, and why the answer matters for anyone who runs a business on it.

A caveat up front: this is a moving target. Bans get ordered, paused, and reversed on short notice — treat the specifics below as the state of play in August 2026, not a permanent map.

Short answer: no, Telegram is not banned globally

In the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and most of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Telegram is available and legal. The worldwide App Store removal on August 3–4, 2026 briefly blocked new iOS installs everywhere — but that was a distribution action by Apple (over child sexual abuse material posted by one user, which Telegram removed), not a government ban. The app was restored within hours, and the network kept working throughout. (More on that: what we know about the removal.)

Where Telegram is blocked

China — Blocked by the Great Firewall for years, and removed from the China App Store in 2024 alongside WhatsApp, Signal, and Threads. Effectively unavailable without a VPN. This is the clearest case of a regional block that simply hasn't reversed.

Iran — Blocked since 2018 following mass protests. Still widely used through VPNs despite the block.

Russia is a separate case — not currently blocked. Telegram was officially banned in 2018, but the ban was lifted in 2020, and it remains one of the country's most-used apps. Telegram and its founder have, however, faced renewed government pressure in 2026.

Where Telegram has faced temporary suspensions or removals

Brazil (2023) — A court ordered a temporary nationwide suspension tied to a data request; it was later lifted.

Spain (2024) — A judge briefly ordered a suspension over copyright complaints, then paused the order before it took full effect.

India (2026) — A temporary access restriction in June 2026.

Worldwide iOS App Store (August 2026) — Apple removed Telegram from the App Store globally over CSAM posted by one user, then restored it within hours once the content was removed and the account banned. Background on our live status page.

The pattern that actually matters

Telegram isn't "banned" in the everyday sense — but its availability is unusually contested, and the split is the important part:

Worldwide App Store removals (2018, and the August 2026 one) have historically reversed fast.

Government-ordered regional blocks (China) can last for years, or indefinitely.

Either way, the point is the same: if your business depends on Telegram reaching people in a particular country, that availability is not something you control — and it can change with no notice and no appeal.

What this means if you run your business on Telegram

You can't control which governments block Telegram, or when Apple pulls it from a store. You can control whether your customer relationships are diversified across channels and whether their history lives somewhere you own. That's the difference between a bad news day for Telegram and a bad news day for your business. We dig into it here: Platform risk: when one channel isn't in your control.

It's also why we built Pantheon to be multichannel by default, with your relationships drawn from the channels you connect — so no single country's block or app-store decision can strand them. It's in alpha now: join here and we'll help you keep your Telegram relationships backed up and reachable, wherever they live.

FAQ

Is Telegram banned in the US? No. Telegram is available and legal in the United States.

Is Telegram banned in China? Yes — it's blocked by the Great Firewall and was removed from the China App Store in 2024. People there generally reach it through a VPN.

Why is Telegram banned in some countries? Usually over content-moderation disputes, refusals to hand over user data, or a government's wish to control communications during protests or elections.

Can I use Telegram with a VPN where it's blocked? Often it's technically possible, but local laws vary — check the rules where you are before relying on it.

Was Telegram banned worldwide in 2026? No. The August 2026 event was Apple removing Telegram from the iOS App Store over CSAM posted by one user — a distribution action, not a global government ban. The network kept working, and the app was restored within hours.

This page describes publicly reported availability as of August 2026 and does not assert any cause that a government, Apple, or Telegram has not confirmed.