Meta's Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads Hit by Massive Global Outage

Dec 11, 2024, 06:35 PM

On December 11, 2024, Meta Platforms' services—including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads—experienced a massive worldwide outage, affecting millions of users. Starting on Wednesday afternoon around 2:30 PM, users reported difficulties accessing the platforms, with issues ranging from app functionality and login errors to message delivery failures. The outage was reported across several countries, including Brazil, the United States, India, Mexico, Israel, and parts of Europe. Downdetector, a website that tracks service interruptions, recorded over 105,000 reports for Facebook outages, over 70,000 for Instagram, and approximately 7,300 for WhatsApp in the United States alone. Meta acknowledged the problem, stating: "We’re aware that a technical issue is impacting some users’ ability to access our apps. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience." The cause of the outage was not immediately clear, and Meta did not provide a timeline for the restoration of services. The incident disrupted communication and social media activities globally.