In an unexpected disruption, Meta-owned platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger, experienced a widespread outage for over an hour on Tuesday evening. Thousands of users in India and various other countries reported difficulties accessing the apps, loading content, delivering messages, and refreshing search feeds.

With over 300,000 reports of outages on Facebook and more than 20,000 on Instagram, users faced login issues, and many were logged out without the ability to log back in. The outage also affected Meta's newly launched Threads, while WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, did not report any disruptions.

A Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, addressed the issue, stating, "Earlier today, a technical issue caused people to have difficulty accessing some of our services. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience."

Downdetector, a platform tracking outages, indicated that the disruption was not limited to India but affected users in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Brazil.

As users flocked to alternative platforms, including Elon Musk's X, for updates, Elon Musk himself took a playful jab at Meta, stating, "If you're reading this post, it's because our servers are working." Memes flooded social media during the outage, highlighting the impact of the global server issue.

This incident comes after a major outage in July last year, affecting Meta platforms, including WhatsApp, which were restored later in the day. The cause of the recent disruption has not been officially disclosed by Meta.