\n<\/p>\n
Instagram and WhatsApp are now back online after a mass global outage affected several Meta-owned apps on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Facebook has yet to confirm whether all its issues have been resolved.<\/p>\n
“Thanks for bearing with us! We’re 99% of the way there – just doing some last checks. We apologize to those who’ve been affected by the outage,” Meta, which owns the apps, said on X. <\/p>\n
Over 22,000 people reported issues with Facebook on Wednesday evening and over 18,000 struggled to use WhatsApp, according to outage-tracking site Downdetector.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Problems with the apps were reported in the UK, parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the US.<\/p>\n
“And we’re back, happy chatting!” WhatsApp said on X.<\/p>\n
“Andddd we’re back – sorry for the wait, and thanks for bearing with us,” Instagram said.<\/p>\n
The outages started around 18:00 GMT on Wednesday, according to Downdetector. Its numbers are based on reports of outages and the actual number of users affected may vary considerably.<\/p>\n
Soon after users reported issues, Meta said it was aware of a “technical issue” that was “impacting some users’ ability to access our apps” and said it was working to fix things as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
A variety of issues were reported including not being able to use the apps at all or feeds not refreshing for certain users.<\/p>\n
“We’re aware of some issues accessing WhatsApp. We’re actively working on a solution and starting to see a return to normal for most people. We expect things to be back to normal shortly,” WhatsApp said around the same time.<\/p>\n
Meta’s platforms are some of the most popular in the world. Facebook has over three billion active monthly users.<\/p>\n
The biggest outage Meta experienced was in 2021 when founder Mark Zuckerberg apologised for the disruption caused.<\/p>\n
On that occasion, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram services went down for almost six hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n