Meta's popular platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—faced a significant global outage on Wednesday, 11 December 2024, leaving thousands of users unable to access these services.
Outage tracking website Downdetector.com reported over 105,000 complaints about Facebook and 70,000 related to Instagram from users in the United States alone. WhatsApp, Meta's messaging app, also saw more than 12,000 reported disruptions. The outage began around 12:50 PM ET and lasted for over two hours.
Error Messages and User Frustration
Users attempting to access Facebook and Instagram encountered an error message reading, "Something went wrong." On X (formerly Twitter), affected individuals shared their frustrations and speculated about the cause of the downtime.
Despite widespread disruption, Meta has yet to issue a formal statement or respond to media inquiries, including those from Reuters.
Global Impact
While the majority of reports originated from the U.S., the outage impacted users globally, disrupting social media activity and communication for hundreds of thousands. Businesses relying on Meta's platforms for customer engagement and marketing also faced setbacks during the downtime.
Growing Reliance on Meta Platforms
The incident underscores the reliance of millions on Meta's ecosystem for social connection, communication, and commerce. Frequent outages like this raise concerns about the robustness of these platforms and their ability to handle massive user traffic and potential technical glitches.
Meta is expected to issue a statement explaining the cause of the outage and steps being taken to prevent future occurrences. In the meantime, users have flocked to alternative platforms to express their frustrations and seek updates.
This latest disruption adds to the string of outages experienced by Meta's platforms in recent years, highlighting the challenges faced by large-scale tech companies in maintaining uninterrupted service.