Widespread Disruption as Facebook and Instagram Suffer Outages – Sky Bulletin

Meta platforms, including the widely used social media services Facebook, Instagram, as well as Threads and Messenger apps, are encountering extensive login problems, signaling a significant outage.

Internet freedom advocate and monitoring organization Netblocks, based in London, reported on X that Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads are “currently experiencing outages linked to login sessions in various countries.” Netblocks highlighted the absence of “country-level internet disruptions or filtering” which is synonymous with state-imposed censorship.

Meta’s spokesperson, Andy Stone, addressed the problem via X, once called Twitter, confirming that the team is “working on this now.”

Reports flooded in from users who were unable to access their Facebook accounts or having troubles refreshing their feeds on Threads and Instagram. On the other hand, WhatsApp, another Meta-owned platform, was reportedly unaffected by the outage early on Tuesday.

Matthew Green, a noted figure in the cybersecurity field, suggested that the outage could be part of a larger problem, not isolated to Meta services.

Green, who serves as an associate professor of computer science and a member of the cybersecurity team at Johns Hopkins University, reflected, “Several services are suffering disruptions in parts of their systems, especially log-in capabilities. This could signify an issue originating from a major cloud service provider. The precise cause is yet to be determined.”

Which Meta platforms are affected by the outage?

Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger are currently experiencing issues, particularly with login sessions.

Is WhatsApp also affected by the outage?

As per early reports, WhatsApp did not seem to be influenced by the same login issues plaguing other Meta platforms.

Has Meta acknowledged the outage?

Yes, Andy Stone from Meta has confirmed they are aware of the issues and are working to resolve the matter.

Is there any indication that the outage is due to internet censorship?

No evidence suggests that the outage is related to internet censorship or filtering at the country level.

What might be the cause of the outage?

While the exact cause is unclear, there is speculation that the issue could stem from a failure at a major cloud services provider, affecting multiple services, not just those under Meta.

The recent outage affecting Meta’s array of platforms has caused significant concern among users worldwide, spotlighting the technical vulnerabilities that even major tech companies face. The immediate acknowledgment and response from Meta hint at their commitment to resolving the issues quickly, but the wider implications on internet reliability and the dependencies on cloud services remain a subject for ongoing concern and discussion.