Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, addressed users during the recent Meta Connect event held in Menlo Park, California, on September 25, 2024. On Wednesday, September 26, 2024, Meta’s suite of applications, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, and Messenger, experienced significant outages, leaving many users unable to access these popular services.
The issues began around 9:57 a.m. PST, with peak reports indicating that over 100,000 users encountered problems accessing Facebook at approximately 10:11 a.m. PST, according to data from the internet-monitoring website Downdetector. In response to the situation, Meta took to social media, specifically on the platform X, to inform users that they were aware of the technical difficulties that some users were facing. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience,” the post stated.
In a separate update specific to Instagram, the company acknowledged that a technical issue was affecting some users’ ability to access the photo-sharing platform. Later in the day, Meta provided further reassurance, stating that they were “99% of the way there – just doing some last checks” to resolve the outage.
Shortly thereafter, Instagram confirmed that its services were restored, offering an apology for the disruption: “Andddd we’re back — sorry for the wait, and thanks for bearing with us.”
This incident follows a similar outage that occurred in March 2024, during the Super Tuesday U.S. presidential primaries, where Meta’s apps were also down for approximately two hours.
While such outages can be frustrating for users, it’s worth noting that Meta’s prompt communication and efforts to rectify the situation reflect a commitment to maintaining user experience. With the increasing reliance on digital platforms for social interaction, swift resolutions are crucial, and it’s clear that the company is prioritizing improvements in tech infrastructure to minimize future disruptions.