Update:
Meta’s services are now working again after a prolonged outage on Tuesday. A Meta spokesperson said a “technical issue” caused the outage, but didn’t provide further details.
“We know some people were having trouble accessing our apps earlier. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused, and thank you for your patience while our teams worked quickly to resolve,” Meta said in a statement on X.
Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram have been experiencing widespread outages on Tuesday, leaving thousands of users unable to access their accounts.
Even the newly launched Threads app is affected, displaying error messages when users attempt to access it on mobile devices.
Down Detector, which tracks the status of websites and online services, has recorded hundreds of thousands of outage reports for Facebook and tens of thousands for Instagram, Threads, and Messenger.
The issue appears to have started around 4:00 PM GMT (11:00 AM ET), with users reporting difficulties logging in or using these Meta platforms. WhatsApp, however, is working at this time.
“OMGG!! I tried to change my pass 2 times and says failed. I thought I was hacked,” a user said on Reddit.
“I’m going to walk outside and touch grass. I hear that is the proper protocol,” another Reddit user said.
This is one of the most significant service disruptions Meta has experienced in recent years. The exact cause of the prolonged outage is unclear at the moment. However, the company has acknowledged the issue.
“We’re aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone wrote on X.
Outage Continues, Users Outraged
Users from across the world have taken to platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit to express their frustration. Some said they couldn’t log into their accounts, and others reported being unable to reset their passwords. Meanwhile, users who’re already logged into their accounts said they can’t reload their feed.
The outage is affecting users in multiple countries, including India, South America, and beyond. While there are speculations that Meta may be experiencing a security issue, this hasn’t been confirmed.
Matthew Green, an associate professor of computer science and member of the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, told AP News that the large number of people reporting they’re unable to log into Meta’s services “may indicate a common cause, like a failure at a major cloud services provider.”
It appears Meta’s internal systems were also affected. “Several employees of Meta said on anonymous messaging app Blind that they were unable to log in to their internal work systems, which left them wondering if they were laid off,” Reuters reported.
As reports of the outage continue, global network trackers like NetBlocks have confirmed that the issue is unrelated to country-level internet disruptions or filtering.
In the meantime, users are advised to remain patient and refrain from attempting to change their passwords on the affected platforms, as these efforts may be futile.
For more news, follow us on X (Twitter), Threads, and Mastodon!
