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TechnologyGlobal issues

WhatsApp back up after outages around the world

April 4, 2024

Tens of thousands of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook users in the US, India and other countries had been unable to access the popular platforms. WhatsApp later reported the service was back.

https://p.dw.com/p/4ePE4
The WhatsApp symbol on a smartphone app showing 64 unread messages
The WhatsApp outage had impacted thousands of users in India, the United Kingdom and Brazil, according to Downdetector dataImage: photothek/picture alliance

Users of Meta Platforms-owned messaging service WhatsApp reported that the app was out of action on Wednesday.

Tracking website Downdetector.com said that tens of thousands of WhatsApp outages had been reported.

The issue appeared to have been resolved over three hours later when WhatsApp posted on X: "And we’re back. Happy chatting!" 

How many users were affected by the WhatsApp outage?

According to Downdetector, at its peak, the outage impacted more than 24,000 WhatsApp users in the United States. 

The data showed nearly 46,000 users in India, around 82,000 in the United Kingdom and over 88,000 in Brazil also reported problems with the platform.

Over 5,000 Instagram outages were also recorded, according to Downdetecttor data.

How does social media cause stress?

Last month, Facebook, Instagram and Threads outages left users locked out of their accounts, impacting hundreds of thousands.

According to Statista ,during the fourth quarter of 2023, Meta stated that 3.98 billion people were using at least one of the company's core products — Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger — each month.

kb/rt (Reuters, dpa)