Meta Resolves Latest Outage Affecting Millions

December 13, 2024 Posted by Liam Walsh Round-Up 0 thoughts on “Meta Resolves Latest Outage Affecting Millions”
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Liam Walsh
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Liam is a Co-Director at Intelligency and heads up the agency's Digital Intelligence & Paid Social activity. Over the last decade, he has worked with brands from the world of sports such as Premier League clubs to entertainment such as Channel 4 and Disney.

Meta’s platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—are back online after a temporary disruption caused by a “technical issue,” the company announced. In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Meta apologized to those affected, saying it was “99% of the way there” and performing final checks to ensure services were fully restored.

According to Downdetector, a platform that tracks reports of issues with apps and websites, a significant spike in complaints occurred around 6:00 PM. By 6:07 PM, there were 25,807 reports about Facebook in the UK and 106,401 in the US. WhatsApp also saw disruptions, with 15,565 reports logged in the UK by 6:28 PM. 

Disruptions Impact Communication and Business

The downtime disrupted both personal and professional communication, as many users rely on WhatsApp and Messenger for urgent or daily interactions. Businesses faced operational challenges, with interruptions to marketing campaigns, customer engagement, and e-commerce sales. Advertisers lost visibility and reach, while creators and influencers struggled to meet content schedules, potentially impacting revenue streams. 

Frequent Outages Raise Concerns

This marks the latest in a series of outages for Meta’s platforms, with previous disruptions reported earlier this year and as recently as October. Such incidents erode user trust and raise questions about the reliability of Meta’s infrastructure. Businesses may consider diversifying their tools to reduce dependency on these platforms. Additionally, repeated issues raise cybersecurity concerns, with users speculating about potential vulnerabilities. 

While Meta has resolved this outage, the growing frequency of such events underscores the critical role these platforms play and the wide-reaching implications of any downtime. Meta thanked users for their patience as it worked to restore normalcy. 

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