Meta is DOWN: Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook outage affects thousands of users worldwide
- Users reported sadness as access to favorite apps temporarily went offline
- DownDetector reports that the Meta sites network tanked around 18:00 GMT
A trifecta of Meta social media sites, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, went dark for users around the world on Wednesday afternoon, leaving thousands disconnected from the feeds of their friends, family and favorite influencers.
According to DownDetector, a website that monitors such outages, reports of issues on these platforms first emerged around 6:00 PM GMT (2:00 PM ET).
Users of Facebook’s desktop client in the Dallas and Houston, Texas, areas appeared to be the hardest hit, based on the site’s tracking of complaints and reports.
The majority of complaints about WhatsApp (percentage) and Instagram (percentage) related to the mobile app versions of these social platforms.
According to DownDetector, a website that monitors such outages, reports of issues on Meta’s platforms, including Instagram (above), first started around 6:00 PM GMT (2:00 PM ET).
Many users flocked to Elon Musk’s X to see if others were experiencing any issues.
Users mainly said they couldn’t send messages, but others reported they couldn’t receive them. Some users even stated that they were unable to access the apps at all.
Facebook’s parent company Meta has not revealed a cause for the problem.
But a heat map of user complaints from the past few hours compiled by DownDetector showed clusters of reported outages for Instagram spread across New York; Los Angeles; and Chicago.
This is a current story and will be updated.