Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp suffer global outage; issues fixed by Thursday morning

Facebook began experiencing disruptions around 10pm on July 3, 2019, according to tracking website downdetector.com, with Instagram and WhatsApp experiencing disruptions around the same time. PHOTO: AFP

SINGAPORE - Users across the world reported problems with Instagram, WhatsApp and parent company Facebook on Wednesday evening (July 3).

Later on Thursday morning, Facebook said that the issues had been fixed.

Facebook began experiencing disruptions around 10pm, according to tracking website downdetector.com, with Instagram and WhatsApp experiencing disruptions around the same time.

The site's outage map reflected that several parts of North America and South-east Asia were affected.

Besides Singapore, Malaysia also seemed to be affected.

Facebook later said in a statement that it was aware of the issues and was working on a fix.

"During one of our routine maintenance operations, we triggered an issue that is making it difficult for some people to upload or send photos and videos," a Facebook representative said.

"We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and we apologise for any inconvenience."

Users took to social media platforms such as Twitter to post about the outage, adding that pictures and posts were not loading on Instagram, and they had trouble sending and receiving messages on WhatsApp.

Content including videos, status and log-in features were also disrupted.

Twitter user Karen Sam added a screenshot of Facebook's login page and said that she was unable to access it.

Another Twitter user Stephen White stated that he was not able to move past a screen requesting him to secure his account when he logged into the application.

"I've also seen that I'm not the only one today so any chance you can help correct this issue," he said, tagging Facebook's Twitter handle in the post.

Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, shares systems across the three applications.

It announced on Thursday morning that the problems on its platforms had been fixed.

"The issue has since been resolved and we should be back at 100 per cent for everyone. We're sorry for any inconvenience," Facebook tweeted.

Users have reported fewer problems on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp since the initial outage around 10pm on Wednesday evening, according to tracking website downdetector.com.

In April, users experienced a similar major disruption, with more than 12,000 incidents being reported on downdetector.com at the peak of the outage.

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