Social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, experienced a significant and widespread outage on Wednesday, leaving millions of users unable to access the platform. Reports of problems surged dramatically in the afternoon, with users around the globe complaining of being unable to load posts, access their timelines, or use the app and website.
The issues became apparent around 15.00 p.m. CET, as indicated by a massive spike in user-generated problem reports on the online service status tracker, Downdetector. The site’s outage chart for X showed a near-vertical climb, reaching a peak of nearly 11,000 reports within a short period, a figure vastly exceeding the typical volume of reported issues.
Users who were able to access other social media platforms quickly began discussing the outage. The problems reported were varied, with many users seeing blank “For You” pages, while others were met with error messages. The outage appeared to impact both the mobile application and the desktop version of the platform.
While the user-provided data from Downdetector clearly illustrates the scale of the disruption, official communication from X has been notably absent. As of the time of this report, neither the company’s official accounts nor its owner, Elon Musk, have issued a public statement acknowledging the outage or providing a reason for the widespread problems. This silence has left users and the media to rely on third-party monitoring services for information.
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According to data from various online outage trackers, the disruption was global, with reports originating from numerous countries across different continents. The specific cause of the outage remains unconfirmed.
This latest incident marks another significant technical challenge for the platform since its rebranding from Twitter to X. The social media service has experienced several outages in the past year, raising questions about the stability of its infrastructure amidst ongoing changes within the company.
While some users began to report a gradual return to service after approximately an hour of widespread issues, the lack of a formal announcement or explanation from X has fueled speculation and frustration among its user base. The full extent of the outage’s impact and its root cause are yet to be officially clarified.
