On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, several Meta-owned social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, experienced a widespread outage that impacted users globally. According to the website Downdetector, which tracks online service outages, hundreds of thousands of users reported issues with logging in and accessing their accounts.
The outage began around 10:00 AM ET, and by 10:40 AM ET, Downdetector indicated over 460,000 reports for Facebook and over 71,000 reports for Instagram. Users also reported being logged out of their accounts and encountering difficulties refreshing content.
Meta acknowledged the issue through a statement from Andy Stone, a company spokesperson, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). Stone wrote, "We're aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now." The outage also affected other Meta-owned applications, such as Messenger and Threads.
While the exact cause of the outage remains unknown, reports from internet monitoring firms suggest it was not related to internet disruptions or filtering by governments.
The outage quickly became a trending topic on social media platforms that were still functional, with users expressing their frustrations and experiences with the hashtag #facebookdown. Some users adopted a humorous approach, while others voiced their concerns about the disruption to their communication and social interactions.
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As of this writing (Tuesday, March 5, 2024, 11:13 PM PST), Meta has not provided an official update regarding the cause of the outage or the estimated time for restoration of services. However, the company has assured users that they are working to resolve the issue.