Facebook and Instagram, two of the world’s largest social media platforms, experienced widespread outages on March 5th, leaving millions of users unable to access their accounts and prompting concerns of a potential cyberattack. However, investigations have revealed that the disruptions were due to technical issues rather than malicious activity.
The outages began around 10:45 am EST, with users reporting difficulties logging into their accounts and experiencing error messages when attempting to access the platforms. Instagram users encountered issues such as the inability to refresh their feeds and difficulties posting content.
According to reports from Down Detector, a monitoring service, more than 500,000 error reports were received within a short period, indicating the scale of the disruption. The majority of the reported problems were related to difficulties logging into Facebook, with approximately 76% of users encountering login issues.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, confirmed the outage via Twitter, stating that they were aware of the issue and working to resolve it. A Meta spokesperson later provided an update, explaining that a technical issue had caused the disruptions and apologizing for any inconvenience caused to users.
Experts from Cisco’s ThousandEyes Internet Intelligence team analyzed the outage and determined that the issue likely stemmed from a backend service, such as authentication, rather than a problem with the web servers themselves. Users attempting to log in received error messages, indicating difficulties with authentication processes.
By approximately 16:50 UTC (8:50 am PST), Meta services began to gradually recover, with many users regaining access to their accounts. However, some users reported ongoing issues, particularly related to two-factor authentication (2FA), with SMS codes not working on the site.
Despite speculation, there is no evidence to suggest that the outages were the result of a cyberattack. Meta has not provided specific details regarding the root cause of the technical issues, but the company has assured users that the problem has been resolved to the best of their ability.
In response to the outages, many users turned to alternative social media platforms such as Twitter, where Elon Musk, the owner of X, took the opportunity to humorously acknowledge the stability of his platform’s servers.
As users regain access to their accounts, cybersecurity experts advise taking precautions to enhance security, such as using password managers and enabling two-factor authentication. Meta has not disclosed whether any user data was compromised as a result of the outage.
While the exact cause of the outages remains unknown, Meta’s swift response and resolution of the technical issues underscore the challenges inherent in maintaining the stability and reliability of complex digital platforms relied upon by billions of users worldwide.