October 4th got off to a bad start for Facebook. The world’s most popular social network went down at about 11:44 EDT. It wasn’t just Facebook though. Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger also went down.
While Facebook has yet to report on what’s happening with this total social network failure, website status sites such as DownForEveryoneOrJustMe and DownDetector are all reporting that Facebook is down. The problem isn’t limited to just the United States. There are numerous reports that the site is down in Europe and the Middle East.
Some Facebook users report seeing an error message reading: “Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.” Instagram and WhatsApp users say they’re getting a “5xx Server Error.”
Facebook Communications Director Andy Stone tweeted, “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.”
This collapse comes the morning after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed on 60 Minutes that Facebook’s own research shows that it amplifies hate, misinformation, and political unrest to maximize profits over the good of the public.
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