Meta Platforms faced a significant service disruption on Tuesday, causing widespread inconvenience across its suite of social media and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads. Users encountered a range of issues, from being forcibly logged out of their accounts to encountering error messages preventing re-login, signaling a large-scale technical glitch that impacted Meta's vast user base.
The troubles began to surface just after 10:30 a.m. ET, with Downdetector, a website that tracks outages, registering an alarming spike in error reports. Within half an hour, the number of reported problems exceeded 500,000, highlighting the massive scale of the outage. Instagram users also reported an inability to refresh their feeds, further evidencing the widespread nature of the technical difficulties.
Meta's communication platforms, including Messenger and Threads, the company's answer to Twitter launched in the previous year, were not spared, with functionality severely hampered. Even Meta Quest headsets faced sign-out issues, rendering services like Horizon Worlds, Meta's virtual reality space, inoperative and effectively "bringing down the metaverse."
The outage prompted a flurry of reports and complaints across social media, particularly on Twitter/X, where users sought to confirm the widespread nature of the issues they were facing. The disruption led to confusion and frustration, with many users mistakenly believing their passwords had been compromised, only to realize that the problem stemmed from a broader service disruption within Meta's network.
Andy Stone, Meta's head of communications, acknowledged the outage via a post on Twitter/X, stating, "We're aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now." This official acknowledgment confirmed the company's awareness of the issue and its efforts to resolve the technical problems plaguing its platforms.
As the outage unfolded, Meta did not immediately provide a detailed explanation for the service disruption or an estimated timeline for the restoration of normal operations. The lack of immediate communication from Meta left many users in limbo, uncertain of when they would regain full access to their accounts and the suite of services Meta provides.
