Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp DOWN after users hit by huge global outage

WhatsApp has reassured panicking users saying “it’s not you, it’s us” as tens of thousands of people have reported issues accessing the instant messaging platform, while Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are also struggling

Social media giants Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok are down in a global outage, according to DownDetector.

Tens of thousands of people have been struggling to access WhatsApp this afternoon, with 46,397 issues reported at about 4:30pm UK time.

That shot up to 75,600 just before 5pm with a total of 43% of users experiencing issues with the app, with 27% being unable to send messages.

Mark Zuckerberg’s social giant Facebook – which owns Instagram and WhatsApp – has also been struggling, with a peak of 58,000 reports at about 4pm, although the number has now gone down to just under 30,000.

Up to 76% of reports were related to the website while 14% were linked to the app.

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Instagram users also appear to have been struck by the outage as Downdetector, which reviews the status of the social media giants for their millions of users around the world, received more than 30,800 reports.

Half of these were issues related to the app, 50% while 26% were server connection problems and 24% were linked to the website.

According to Cisco company ThousandEyes, Facebook’s malfunctioning is due to a Domain Name Server (DNS) failure.

Facebook users have been seeing an error page or a message saying their browser cannot connect.

WhatsApp and Instagram users can access the apps but are unable to see any new content, including any sent or received messages.

WhatsApp Web, the desktop version of the messaging app, does not appear to be loading on computers either.

Video-streaming platform TikTok, which recently boasted hitting one billions users, has also had issues with up to 114 reports received in the last hour.

According to reports, however, other websites seem to be malfunctioning, leaving users unable to access their services.

Below is a list of the platforms that tens of thousands have been struggling with this afternoon.

• AT&TGoogle
• Cricket Wireless
• Amazon
• Telegram
• Apple
• TikTok
• Snapchat
• Several more
• SpectrumVerizon
• T-Mobile / TMBLE Metro

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Facebook’s communications executive Andy Stone has tweeted to say the social media giant is aware of the current issues and is “working to get things back to normal.”

A tweet from the official Facebook handle says: “We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products.

“We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

WhatsApp echoed this as it said in a tweet it was aware of people experiencing issues accessing the instant messaging platform.

The tweet reads: “We’re aware that some people are experiencing issues with WhatsApp at the moment. We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience!”

A user’s response to the tweet says: “I started doubting my Internet connection”, to which the WhatsApp spokesperson reassured them saying: “It’s not you, it’s us. Working to fix asap”.

Instagram also sent out a tweet to its users saying: “Instagram and friends are having a little bit of a hard time right now, and you may be having issues using them. Bear with us, we’re on it! #instagramdown.”

One Instagram user went viral as she tweeted: “Guys I was flirting in my dms get instagram back up please.”

“Hi! It’s my birthday and I’m legally obligated to post pictures of balloons that state my age – please hurry! Love you,” said another.

Twitter has been listed among those reported to be malfunctioning, but it works well enough to become the friendly host for all those wanting to check all users are in the same boat.

A tweeter posted a meme of panicking social users wondering what is happening.

While one joked about how they rebooted their router five times only to discover if had nothing to do with their broadband.

This was echoed by a WhatsApp lover who said they went all the way to delete and reinstall the app multiple times in the hope it would start working again.

“I almost threw my phone”, the desperate user said while responding to WhatsApp’s statement, while several more said they tried restarting their phone but to no avail.

One commented saying: “I’m here switching between using my wifi and mobile data tryna see what’s the problem until I went online and saw it’s a global thing happening.”