Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, three of the most popular web platforms, serving millions of users 24×7, are currently unreachable. There’s no clear indication why all of the Facebook-owned digital destinations are collectively down.
Facebook’s main website, as well as WhatsApp’s and Instagram’s web and mobile, are down. Needless to say, all three platforms have a deeply integrated backend and even share infrastructure.
Facebook is aware of the global outage of WhatsApp, Instagram, and its own social media platform:
Top social media platforms WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook are currently down. Attempting to reach any of the three online platforms results in a generic error.
The generic error does claim the web browser was unable to access the IP Address of the destination. This strongly indicates Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram websites could be facing some DNS configuration or rerouting errors.
We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.
— Facebook (@Facebook) October 4, 2021
A Facebook spokesperson has confirmed the company is aware of the outage: “We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
BREAKING! Not only are Facebook's services and apps down for the public, its internal tools and communications platforms, including Workplace, are out as well. No one can do any work. #facebookdown pic.twitter.com/8Avc2QX1lA
— Bea A Stephens (@BeaAStephens1) October 4, 2021
The official Facebook website is unreachable. However, the social media giant seems to have a backup site just to display the following error:
“Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.”
Facebook locks out access to multiple websites and online services, games, etc.:
The error message on Facebook seems to suggest a Domain Name System (DNS) error. DNS allows web addresses to route users to their destinations.
The best part of WhatsApp Instagram and Facebook going down is Twitter trolling them. LMAO 😭 #facebookdown pic.twitter.com/drwbo208RZ
— M (@mazzzoff) October 4, 2021
The refresh request sent to Facebook or Instagram on the website or app reportedly results in a timeout error. This strongly suggests the web browser kept on trying to reach the website, but there was no response.
An expired security certificate and such other mundane mistakes or oversights have previously resulted in multiple websites going down. Such lapses of judgment are quite common simply because remedial actions are far and few. Moreover, system administrators do not need to actively monitor for an expired certificate.
Instagram and friends are having a little bit of a hard time right now, and you may be having issues using them. Bear with us, we’re on it! #instagramdown
— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) October 4, 2021
As expected, thousands of aggrieved and perplexed Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram users took to other popular Social Media platforms to vent their frustration.
WhatsApp, another Facebook-owned instant messaging platform, sent out a Tweet confirming the outage:
We’re aware that some people are experiencing issues with WhatsApp at the moment. We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible.
Thanks for your patience!
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) October 4, 2021
In addition to WhatsApp, and Instagram, the outage has also locked out access to third-party apps. Social media platforms such as Twitter indicate problems accessing Pokemon Go and Match Masters.
Needless to mention, Facebook will not allow the outage to last long. In other words, users should exercise a little patience, as these platforms should soon resume normal operations.