Meta social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger and WhatsApp faced a global outage on Wednesday evening. The glitches, which started around 11 PM IST, left users in many countries struggling with slow loading times, errors and difficulties in posting. Some users reported being unable to access the platforms entirely, while others encountered glitches, such as Facebook posts displaying with zero comments.
Facebook, Instagram most affected
The outage mainly affected the US, with more than 97,000 reports on the meta forums. Instagram was the worst affected, registering almost 72,000 complaints. In India, 31,000 people reported disruption to Instagram, while around 30,500 users faced interruptions as WhatsApp had massive outages. The platform outage also spread to mobile phones, with 12,000 problems reported in the US.
Users take to X amid service disruptions
As the platforms struggled to recover, users turned to X (formerly Twitter) to share memes and express frustration over the outage. While Meta has yet to release an official statement, reports indicated that some services will resume for select users around an hour after the initial outage.
Second major outage in 2024
This marks Meta’s second major outage this year. In March, Instagram and Facebook faced a global glitch that disrupted user access. Back then, users shared screenshots of error messages on X, similar to Friday’s incident.
Meta has not disclosed the reason for the latest outage or the timeline for complete restoration of services.
Also read | Yearender 2024: From Microsoft to IRCTC, millions affected by major service outages this year
