- WhatsApp and Instagram faced a global outage impacting users across continents
- Meta cites technical issues and confirms a return to near-full functionality
What happened: Instagram and Facebook are back online
Over 22,000 people reported issues with Facebook on Wednesday evening(December 11) and over 18,000 struggled to use WhatsApp, according to outage-tracking site Downdetector. Problems with the apps were reported in the UK, parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the US. Instagram and WhatsApp are now back online after a mass global outage affected several Meta-owned apps on Wednesday. Facebook has yet to confirm whether all its issues have been resolved. “Thanks for bearing with us! We’re 99% of the way there – just doing some last checks. We apologize to those who’ve been affected by the outage,” Meta, which owns the apps, said on X.
Soon after users reported issues, Meta said it was aware of a “technical issue” that was “impacting some users’ ability to access our apps” and said it was working to fix things as soon as possible. A variety of issues were reported including not being able to use the apps at all or feeds not refreshing for certain users.
Also read: Meta’s $10B global subsea cable plan unveiled
Also read: Meta cuts EU subscription fees for Facebook and Instagram by 40%
What it’s important
This incident underscores the vulnerability of centralized communication platforms like those operated by Meta. As billions of users worldwide depend on WhatsApp and Instagram for personal and professional interactions, outages can ripple across economies. For small businesses that rely on these apps for marketing, customer engagement, and operations, disruptions translate into lost revenue and eroded customer trust. For example, boutique retailers or food delivery startups using WhatsApp for orders faced immediate setbacks.
Meta’s repeated outages also raise broader concerns. The 2021 outage, which paralyzed Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram for hours, highlighted the risks of consolidating critical services under a single provider. Comparatively, other platforms like Signal or Telegram gained traction as users sought reliable alternatives. This trend reflects increasing skepticism toward tech giants, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape.
While Meta’s rapid recovery demonstrates technical capability, the recurrence of such failures indicates systemic issues. Businesses and users must diversify their digital toolkits to mitigate risks, while Meta must invest heavily in infrastructure resilience. This serves as a wake-up call for centralized platforms to prioritize reliability, given their immense societal and economic impact.
