KUALA LUMPUR – Meta’s suite of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, faced a significant worldwide outage lasting three hours late last night, leaving users unable to access their accounts or communicate with friends.
The widespread disruption, which began around 11pm Malaysian time, plunged users into frustration as they found themselves unable to scroll through feeds, post updates, or send messages.
Thousands of users flocked to alternative platforms like Elon Musk’s X, seeking answers and solutions amid the disruption.
Reports flooded in from various parts of the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia, indicating a widespread impact on Meta’s services. DownDetector, a website monitoring online outages, highlighted the scale of the issue.
DownDetector’s data, which received at least 2,000 complaints in several hours, indicated that Facebook bore the brunt of the disruption, with Messenger and Instagram also experiencing significant issues.
Reports suggested that a majority of users encountered difficulties across all three platforms, ranging from account suspension notices on Facebook to messaging problems on Messenger and Instagram.
Despite the magnitude of the outage, Meta remained silent on the matter, failing to acknowledge the incident or provide any information on its cause.
This blackout occurred just two weeks after a previous outage attributed to an internal issue, a development that left users anxious and perplexed.
On Facebook, users grappled with erroneous notifications regarding account suspensions or expired sessions, prompting repeated login attempts. Messenger users found themselves marked as “unavailable” to friends, hindering communication channels.
Meanwhile, Instagram users faced glitches in comments, messaging, and news feed functionalities.
Although some users managed to access their accounts, they encountered technical hiccups such as missing images or malfunctioning search bars.
Despite the relatively minor nature of some issues, the overall impact was significant, disrupting the normal flow of social media activities for millions of users.
Meta’s lack of an official status page for its consumer products compounded the frustration, leaving users in the dark about the extent of the outage and expected resolution times.
While Meta’s business status page remained unaffected, it offered no insights into the consumer-facing platform issues. – March 21, 2024