WEB DESK: Meta’s popular apps, Instagram and WhatsApp, resumed operations on Thursday morning after a widespread global outage disrupted services on Wednesday.
Facebook, however, has not confirmed if all its issues have been resolved.
“Thanks for bearing with us! We’re 99% of the way there—just doing some last checks. We apologize to those affected,” Meta stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.
According to Downdetector, over 22,000 users reported problems with Facebook, while more than 18,000 faced issues with WhatsApp. The outages affected users across the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the US.
WhatsApp confirmed the restoration, saying, “And we’re back, happy chatting!” Similarly, Instagram posted, “Andddd we’re back—sorry for the wait, and thanks for bearing with us.”
The disruptions began around 18:00 GMT 10:00 pm Pakistan Standard Time, with users experiencing app access issues and unresponsive feeds. Meta acknowledged a technical issue and assured users that it was actively working on a fix.
CHATGPT FACES OUTAGE
In a separate incident, OpenAI’s ChatGPT also went offline due to technical difficulties, affecting users worldwide. The outage, which began before 7 PM ET, also disrupted OpenAI’s API and Sora services.
“We’ve identified the issue and are working to roll out a fix,” OpenAI announced on X, apologizing for the inconvenience. Downdetector reported a significant spike in complaints during the downtime.
OpenAI added that it was addressing errors with API calls and login difficulties on its platform. While global outages like these have become relatively common, the disruptions were not as severe as Facebook’s six-hour outage in 2021, caused by a configuration error in its protocols.
Both companies resumed normal operations shortly.
Meta’s platforms, used by billions globally, are no strangers to outages.
In 2021, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram were down for nearly six hours, leading CEO Mark Zuckerberg to issue a public apology.
Pakistan reveals securing $7bn IMF loan at high interest rate