On Friday morning, Elon Musk’s social media platform X faced a widespread outage affecting thousands of users. Reported issues peaked shortly after 10 a.m. EST, with nearly 75,000 users experiencing difficulties.
Outage Details
According to DownDetector.com, a majority of the reported problems were linked to X’s app as 56% of users faced challenges there. Additionally, 33% of users encountered issues with accessing the website, while another 10% reported server connectivity problems.
Timeline of Events
- 10:00 a.m. EST: Outage begins to spike.
- 10:11 a.m. EST: Nearly 75,000 reports filed regarding access issues.
Platform Response
X did not immediately respond to inquiries from El-Balad. However, its developer status page indicated that “all systems are operational.” This statement contrasts with user experiences during the outage.
Historical Context
Outages on X are not new. Earlier this week, more than 28,000 users reported similar problems. Additionally, last year, Musk addressed the need for “major operational improvements” following previous outages.
Cyberattack Claims
Musk has previously alleged that X was targeted by a significant cyberattack, possibly orchestrated by a national entity or an organized group. This assertion has drawn skepticism from some cybersecurity experts.
Comparison with Other Outages
On Wednesday, a separate disruption impacted over 170,000 Verizon users. Verizon later confirmed there was “no indication of a cyberattack” and apologized for the inconvenience, offering affected customers a $20 account credit for the disruption.
As users continue to rely on X for communication, these outages highlight ongoing challenges in maintaining operational reliability on social media platforms.
