Users around the world have reported significant issues with Facebook Messenger, experiencing disruptions that began around 10:30 am Eastern Time on Friday. Downdetector, a platform that tracks internet outages, confirmed the widespread problems impacting the Meta-owned messaging service across various regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, parts of Europe, Australia, South America, and Asia.
According to reports, over 8,200 users in the United States alone registered their difficulties with the application and website. Despite the extensive outage affecting approximately one billion users globally—equating to roughly 12% of the world’s population—Meta has yet to comment publicly on the situation or provide insights into the potential cause of the disruptions.
This technical failure follows another recent incident on the same day, where WhatsApp, another messaging platform owned by Meta, also experienced similar issues. The origins of these latest outages remain unknown, but they hark back to a previous incident in October 2021, when a seven-hour blackout of Meta’s services, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, led to an estimated loss of $100 million in revenue for the company. That earlier outage was attributed to a faulty update that severed the connectivity of servers, necessitating on-site intervention from engineers—a process complicated by staff shortages connected to pandemic-related measures.
In parallel to the technical issues faced by Messenger, Instagram users also encountered a disturbing flood of graphic content inadvertently pushed to their feeds via the platform's Reels feature. Reports surfaced midweek from users who found themselves confronted with violent videos, including scenes of animal abuse and graphic instances of death.
An Instagram forum on Reddit was buzzing with accounts of the alarming content, with one user stating, “I just saw at least 10 people die on my reels.” Instances cited included disturbing footage of a man being crushed by an elephant and another where an individual was dismembered by a helicopter. Multiple users noted encountering videos meant to indicate sensitive content, which are intended to shield viewers from graphic imagery.
In response to the overwhelming reports, a spokesperson for Meta stated, “We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content on their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended. We apologise for the mistake.” The company has recently re-evaluated its content moderation policies, which included reducing the presence of fact-checkers and scaling back censorship, though Meta clarified that the influx of graphic videos was not a direct result of these changes.
Meta's content guidelines explicitly state the organisation's commitment to removing content that is particularly violent or graphic and to using sensitive content screens to buffer viewers from disturbing imagery. The recent events highlight ongoing challenges for the tech giant in managing user experiences across its platforms amidst shifting policies and technical occurrences.
Source: Noah Wire Services