Several people are unable to access Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram via the iOS app as well as on the web.
People are reporting seeing a “Sorry, something went wrong”, “5xx Server Error” for Facebook and its subsidiary platforms including Facebook Messenger.
According to platform outage tracker Downdetector, the outage has affected every Facebook-owned platform. The outage began around 11:40 am ET and all the services remain inaccessible.
The outage immediately started trending on Twitter as users flocked to the rival microblogging platform to see if others were affected as well. Hilariously, the hashtag “#DeleteFacebook” is trending simultaneously in the wake of Facebook’s effect on the mental health of younger users.
Usually, Facebook service outages only affect certain geographic regions. This time around, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are down around the world including in the US, the UK, Brazil, Kuwait, and more.
The outage has some collateral damage too. Facebook login services on third-party applications were down as well. Pokémon GO developer Niantic said it is “looking into reports of errors associated with Facebook login, and will update here once we have more information.”
We’re looking into reports of errors associated with Facebook login, and will update here once we have more information. We apologize for any inconvenience caused, thanks for your understanding.
— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) October 4, 2021
According to tipster Jane Manchun Wong, associated services and the Workplace website for Facebook’s internal employees are down as well.
[Update: 12:18 pm ET] Facebook distributed an internal memo about the issue and issued a statement.
We believe that the issue has been caused by a DNS issue. Meanwhile, Facebook’s Andy Stone has released an official acknowledgment.
“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
WhatsApp separately acknowledged that its service is down.
“We’re aware that some people are experiencing issues with WhatsApp at the moment. We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible.”
Google didn’t miss the opportunity for some tongue-in-cheek humor
What do we do now? Gmail?
— Google UK (@GoogleUK) October 4, 2021
Instagram and friends are having a little bit of a hard time right now, and you may be having issues using them. Bear with us, we’re on it! #instagramdown
— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) October 4, 2021
[Update: 12:40 pm ET] Facebook internal services and consumer-facing offerings remain inoperable. It has been an hour. Facebook stock dropped 6% following the outage.
Update 3: Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram are now back up online after an outage that lasted for nearly 6 hours. Facebook has detailed the reason behind the outage in a blog post.
