Users of Facebook and Instagram in various countries encountered disruptions on Friday evening, with many facing issues like platforms not loading properly or failing to refresh content. The problem seemed to start around 7 pm IST, as per reports and data from outage-tracking platform Downdetector, which noted a significant increase in complaints. The disruption was not confined to a specific region, as users from multiple countries reported similar problems simultaneously.
In India, users in several cities mentioned difficulties in accessing Facebook and Instagram as usual. Some users complained about feeds not loading, while others noted issues with content refreshing on the apps. Additionally, certain users faced login troubles and challenges in accessing specific features on the platforms.
Amid the service disruptions, many users turned to alternative social media platforms, including X, to check if the problem was widespread. Affected users’ posts indicated that both Facebook and Instagram were impacted by the disruption, with some also experiencing difficulties with Facebook Messenger. The outage seemed to affect users differently, with some able to access the websites while others struggled with loading new content or updating timelines on mobile applications.
Speculation arose due to the varying impact of the disruption, suggesting a possible link to Meta’s backend systems rather than users’ internet connections or devices. Downdetector recorded over 100,000 reports related to Facebook alone, underlining the extensive nature of the outage. Instagram also saw a significant influx of complaints, with reports continuing to climb as more users highlighted issues.
At the time of writing, Meta had not issued an official statement regarding the cause of the disruption. The company had not provided a timeline for the restoration of normal services. Despite users attempting common troubleshooting steps like app restarts, network switches, and software checks, reports indicated that the issue likely stemmed from Meta’s end, reducing the effectiveness of such measures.
