December 12, World (LNW): Meta’s popular services, Instagram and WhatsApp, have resumed normal operation after a significant global outage on Wednesday (11) disrupted several of its apps.
Whilst Instagram and WhatsApp have now been restored, Facebook has yet to confirm whether all issues have been fully resolved.
Meta took to X, formerly Twitter, to express its gratitude towards users: “Thanks for bearing with us! We’re 99% of the way there—just doing some last checks. We apologise to those who’ve been affected by the outage,” the company stated.
According to outage-tracking platform Downdetector, more than 22,000 users reported problems with Facebook, while over 18,000 faced difficulties using WhatsApp.
The issues were widespread, with users from the UK, parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the United States affected.
Both WhatsApp and Instagram confirmed the resolution of their issues on X. “And we’re back, happy chatting!” WhatsApp tweeted, while Instagram added, “Andddd we’re back—sorry for the wait, and thanks for bearing with us.”
The outages began around 18:00 GMT on Wednesday, as reported by Downdetector, which tracks service disruptions.
Meta quickly acknowledged the issue, revealing that a “technical problem” was hindering some users’ access to its services and promising a swift resolution.
Users experienced a range of issues, from being unable to access the apps entirely to problems with feeds not refreshing for certain individuals. WhatsApp updated users with the message, “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.”
Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, which boasts over three billion active monthly users, are some of the most widely used in the world. This incident is not the first major outage for Meta. The company’s largest disruption occurred in October 2021 when all four platforms—Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram—went offline for nearly six hours. During that time, Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology for the inconvenience caused.
Despite the issues, Meta has assured users that services are gradually returning to normal and has thanked them for their patience.
