Facebook and Instagram experienced a major global disruption on Wednesday afternoon, leaving many users unable to access the platforms. The outage, which began around 4pm UK time, affected users across Europe and North America, according to the website Down Detector.
The issue impacted computers, smartphones, and apps, though the instant messaging service Messenger appeared unaffected. Some users could access their accounts partially, while others saw a message stating that Facebook was down for required maintenance.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the problem, stating: “Earlier today, a networking issue caused some people to have trouble accessing Facebook services. We quickly investigated and started restoring access within about an hour, and we have nearly fixed the issue for everyone. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
By around 6pm, the number of reported problems had dropped to normal levels, indicating the issue was resolved. The Guardian understands that the outage was not caused by any suspicious activity. The hashtag #FacebookDown trended globally on Twitter during the disruption.
