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Censorship Monitor · Pakistan Last test

Is Telegram banned in Pakistan?

Yes. Telegram has been blocked on most Pakistani networks since December 2023, and it was still blocked in October 2026, though no order or reason has ever been published.

Today’s test · telegram.org

Blocked

telegram.org fails to open on PTCL and Nayatel, twice, while it opens from other countries.

Last confirmed
Seen in our tests since
29 Sep 2026 (may be older)
How it fails
The secure connection stalls
Tested on
PTCL and Nayatel
Test Telegram yourself › Everything we test in Pakistan

The official status

Telegram in Pakistan

Pakistan blocked Telegram across the country on 16 December 2023, according to network measurements by OONI, an internet censorship research project. No order or reason was published, and the block was still in place on most networks in early October 2026.

It isn’t the first time: in November 2017 the state-owned provider PTCL confirmed it had blocked Telegram on the instructions of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, again without a public notice or reason. That block was later lifted.

Providers don’t all block it the same way: some block only the website, others the website and the app.

What our daily test shows

One of our two test machines on PTCL reaches telegram.org while the other is blocked, and independent tests on PTCL in early October 2026 found it blocked. The machine that gets through is set aside as one that gets around blocks, so our result follows the blocked machine and Nayatel.

Get past a block

How to use Telegram in Pakistan

A VPN connects you through a server in another country, so a block on Telegram in Pakistan no longer applies. Where VPNs themselves are blocked, you need one that can disguise its traffic, and you should set it up before you travel.

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Around the world

Where else is Telegram blocked?

Telegram is also blocked in 3 other countries we test.

It opens in 20 of the 23 other countries with a current result.

Telegram in every country we test ›

Pakistan

What else is blocked in Pakistan?

4 of the other 65 sites and apps we test are blocked in Pakistan.

  • Al Jazeera
  • DW
  • ExpressVPN
  • Tumblr

All 67 results for Pakistan ›

History

Changes for Telegram in Pakistan

No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.

Method

How we test

  • Every day, test machines on PTCL and Nayatel home connections open telegram.org.
  • A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
  • A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
  • Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
  • We test the website over home broadband. The app, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.

Full method ›

Questions

Telegram in Pakistan: questions

Does Telegram Work in Pakistan?

No. Telegram has been blocked on most Pakistani networks since December 2023, and it was still blocked in October 2026, though no order or reason has ever been published.

Why Is Telegram Blocked in Pakistan?

No official reason has been given. When Telegram was blocked in 2017, PTCL said it acted on the telecoms authority’s instructions, and the Digital Rights Foundation noted that no notification or reason was made public.

Which Networks Block Telegram in Pakistan?

Most of them. Measurements by OONI found Telegram blocked on most tested networks in March 2025 and again in early October 2026, though providers block it in different ways.

Free to use

Cite this result

Quote or republish today’s result with a link to this page: the monitor’s data is under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0).

Source: vpnAlert Censorship Monitor, https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/pakistan/telegram/

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