Facebook is down, along with Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus VR
Just as Facebook’s Antigone Davis was live on CNBC defending the company over a whistleblower’s accusations and its handling of research data suggesting Instagram is harmful to teens, the company’s entire network of services suddenly went offline. The outage started just before noon ET, and nearly four hours later there’s no sign or restoration, and no one from the company has offered an explanation of the issues or estimates for when they will be fixed.
On Twitter, Facebook communications exec Andy Stone says, “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.”
A peek at Down Detector (or your Twitter feed) reveals the problems are widespread. While it’s unclear exactly why the platforms are unreachable for so many people, their DNS records show that, like last week’s Slack outage, the problem is apparently DNS (it’s always DNS).
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp down for users across US
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were all down Monday for millions of users across the U.S., according to outage site Down Detector.
Both the mobile and web browser editions of the apps were not working as of 11:42 a.m. ET, the site reported.
Facebook’s new whistleblower is renewing scrutiny of the social media giant
A data scientist named Frances Haugen has revealed herself to be the whistleblower behind a massive exposure of the inner workings at Facebook.
Prior to appearing on 60 Minutes on Sunday, Haugen, a former employee at the social media giant, kept her identity a secret after sharing thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents to the media and federal law enforcement.
Haugen’s planned testimony this week, as well as the information she shared so far, suggests the company deceived the public and its investors about its ability to deal with hate speech and misinformation on its platform.
“Facebook over and over again has shown it chooses profit over safety,” she said during the interview on Sunday.
European politicians call for Facebook investigation after whistleblower revelation
BRUSSELS/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Two members of the European parliament have called for an investigation into allegations by a whistleblower that Facebook prioritised profits above the public good.
The whistleblower, Frances Haugen, who had worked as a product manager on the civic misinformation team at Facebook, shared internal documents with newspapers and attorneys general from several U.S. states.
A statement from European Parliament lawmakers said they were requesting further investigations into the revelations.
“The Facebook Files – and the revelations that the whistleblower has presented to us – underscores just how important it is that we do not let the large tech companies regulate themselves,” said Danish lawmaker Christel Schaldemose
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Go Down in Major Outage
Facebook Inc.’s FB -4.83% platforms and apps, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, abruptly went offline Monday morning, disrupting user access and communication in many countries for an extended period.
“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” Facebook wrote in a message posted on Twitter. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
Facebook asks court to toss FTC lawsuit over its buys of Instagram and WhatsApp
Facebook is again asking a federal court to throw out the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit accusing the company of crushing its rivals, in the latest chapter of the company’s showdown with Washington critics.
“The case is entirely without legal or factual support. This is as true now as it was before,” Facebook said in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday.
The FTC first sued the social media giant in December, accusing it of both buying emerging rivals Instagram and WhatsApp to stave off competition and luring other up-and-coming companies with access to its platform and data and then cutting them off when they were successful enough to become threats. The agency says Facebook should be forced to sell or spin off those apps.