Although anyone in the world can join a channel on Telegram and access anything that’s being shared inside it, on some occasions, you’ll be met with a message that says that the channel “cannot be displayed” because of some sensitive content. But why does it happen and what can you do to view the content inside such channels? That’s what we’ll discuss in this post. 

Why can’t I view sensitive content on Telegram?

Before you know why you can’t view sensitive content on Telegram, you need to understand what the platform considers as sensitive content. While most channels can be safe and useful for everyone, Telegram hosts a bunch of channels that spread pirated media, explicit content, or in the worst case, violence and hatred messages.

When Telegram finds that a channel is being used for the aforementioned illegal activities, it takes down the channel either by hiding it from the general view or banning it entirely. This is when you’ll be met with the “This Channel cannot be displayed” message.

In some cases, channels may only be restricted because of region-specific limitations; so it may remain accessible for users in other non-restricted regions. So, you may be greeted with the same error message when a channel you want to access shares a type of content that is not illegal generally but is restricted by your local government. Another reason for sensitive content not being accessible could be because you’re using Telegram’s store-based version on your Android, Windows, or Mac device. 

How to View Sensitive Content on Telegram

Unless a channel you want to access has been permanently banned, you can bypass Telegram’s sensitive content restrictions using the following methods. Keep in mind, that none of the methods below can guarantee access to sensitive content if your region uses strict measures to restrict such content. 

Method 1: Enable sensitive content or disable filtering

The first thing you can check to access sensitive content inside Telegram is whether you can manually disable content filtering on your Telegram account. 

  1. Open the Telegram app on your phone/desktop or go to Telegram’s WebK or WebA web apps on a web browser on your phone or PC.
  2. Inside the phone/desktop app or web app, tap or click on the 3-lines icon at the top left corner of the UI and select Settings. 
  3. On the Settings screen, select Privacy and Security. 
  4. Inside Privacy and Security, locate the “Sensitive content” section and check the Disable filtering box. 
  5. You can now go back to Telegram’s home screen and see whether the channel or content you wanted to access is now available. 

If you’re unable to locate the Disable filtering option, it’s likely because Telegram has disabled this option because of your region-specific restrictions. If that’s the case, you can proceed to the subsequent methods provided below. 

Method 2: Try using different devices

The unavailability of sensitive content may also be limited to the device you’re using to access Telegram.

  1. If you own multiple devices, you can try installing the Telegram app on them. You can download and use Telegram for the following platforms:
  2. Once installed, you can check whether the channel or sensitive content you were trying to access before now opens. 
  3. If not, you can try Method 1 inside the newly installed app to check and turn on the “Disable filtering” option if available on this app. 

Method 3: Install a non-store version of Telegram app

Some copyrighted content that may be categorized as sensitive on the official App Store or Play Store versions of Telegram becomes accessible when you side-load the non-store version of the Telegram app on your device. If the above methods didn’t help you access sensitive content, you can try the following fix to see if you can access it. 

  1. Depending on the device you want to use, download and manually install the Telegram app from Telegram’s website using the links below. 
  2. Once the app is installed on your preferred device, sign in using your existing account. 
  3. After you sign in, you can check whether the sensitive content is now accessible on this version of the app. 
  4. If not, try Method 1 to see if the Disable filtering option is available. If yes, turn on this feature and check again. 

Method 4: Use Telegram on the web

If you cannot access any type of sensitive content using the Telegram app, you can try using Telegram’s web apps to see if this content is viewable. In our testing, we found out that the channels that are marked as “cannot be displayed” on the iOS version of Telegram, show up normally when you access Telegram’s web app on the same device. This is because, Telegram’s web app has no restrictions and provides access to all kinds of content, even on restricted platforms like iOS and macOS. 

  1. Open the WebK or WebA version of Telegram’s web app on a web browser on any device. 
  2. Sign in to your Telegram account using your phone number on an Android or iOS device. If you’re on a desktop, you’ll need to scan the QR code shown on the desktop using the Telegram app on your phone by going to Settings > Devices > Link Desktop Device. 
  3. After you sign in, search the channel you want to access and see if it displays the sensitive content. Telegram’s web app lets you access sensitive content without any kind of restrictions unless your region strictly limits such content. 

Method 5: Sign up on Telegram using a phone number from another country

If the country or region you reside in has restrictions, these restrictions will only apply when you use this country’s phone number to sign up for an account on Telegram. The only way to bypass this issue is by using a different phone number to create a new account on Telegram.

Although Telegram offers an option to change your account’s phone number and move its contents to a new number, we recommend you don’t use that option if you created the original account using your primary phone number. Moreover, to bypass the region-specific restriction, you’ll need to use a phone number from a different country where no such restrictions are in play to access sensitive content. 

If you don’t own a SIM card from another country, the only option is to gather access to a virtual phone number.

  1. Install any of the following apps that let you create a phone number for free. Not all apps in this list may be available for your region and they all may have some limitations of their own.
  2. When generating a virtual phone number, make sure the country you choose to create a number supports access to sensitive content on Telegram. 
  3. Once you’ve generated a new virtual phone number, open the Telegram app or web app on your device and create a new account using the virtual phone number. 
  4. After you sign in, search the channel you want to access and see if it displays the sensitive content. 

That’s all you need to know about viewing sensitive content on Telegram.