Widespread internet disruptions are casting a shadow over Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, as users struggle with login issues and service outages today. The question arises: is there a larger, coordinated cyber-attack affecting America’s online landscape?
On Tuesday, thousands of users encountered difficulties accessing Meta’s platforms, with as many as 500,000 Facebook users reporting problems logging in or navigating the site, as indicated by outage tracker Downdetector. Simultaneously, Instagram experienced around 50,000 outage reports, while Facebook Messenger received 10,000 reports, though the numbers began to decline within an hour of the disruptions starting.
The impact varied for users, with some finding themselves unexpectedly logged out of their Facebook accounts, while others received notifications on Instagram stating that “something went wrong,” hindering their ability to load feeds. Threads, Meta’s competitor to Elon Musk’s X, also experienced downtime, presenting users with a popup message that read, “Something went wrong, please try again later,” in lieu of their regular feed.
Meta’s status page on Tuesday highlighted “major disruptions,” specifically affecting Facebook login and other segments of the platform. The company’s spokesperson, Andy Stone, acknowledged the issues in a post on X, stating, “We’re aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now.”
Against the backdrop of these widespread internet troubles, the broader question looms—could there be an underlying cyber-attack causing the disruptions witnessed across Meta’s platforms and beyond in America today?
