Social media platforms Instagram, Threads and Facebook experienced outages across the globe on Tuesday, internet monitor Netblocks reported.

“Facebook, Instagram and Messenger are currently experiencing outages related to login sessions in multiple countries,” it said.

Outage tracking website Downdetector corroborated the outage, saying the websites were down for tens of thousands of users.

According to Reuters, the disruptions started around 10am Eastern Time, with more than 300,000 reports of outages for Facebook and about 40,000 reports for Instagram on outage tracking website Downdetector.

Meta’s status dashboard showed the application programming interface for WhatsApp Business was also facing issues.

There were around 200 reports of outages for WhatsApp on Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources, including users.

The outage was among the top trending topics on X, formerly Twitter, with several users saying they had suddenly been logged out of the Meta-owned social media platforms.

“We’re aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a post on X social media.

Netblocks said the incident was not related to “country-level internet disruptions or filtering”.

In Pakistan, reports of the platforms’ troubles began spiking after 8pm, which when coupled with the government’s ongoing throttling of X (previously Twitter), further restricted social media options for internet users in the country.

Facebook and Instagram were previously down together in June 2023.

Opinion

Editorial

Iran stalemate
02 May, 2026

Iran stalemate

THE US and Iran are currently somewhere between war and peace. While a tenuous ceasefire — extended largely due to...
Tax shortfall
02 May, 2026

Tax shortfall

THE Rs684bn shortfall in tax collection during the first 10 months of the fiscal year is a continuation of a...
Teaching inclusion
02 May, 2026

Teaching inclusion

DISCRIMINATORY and exclusionary content in Punjab’s textbooks has been flagged in Inclusive Education for a United...
Water vision
01 May, 2026

Water vision

WATER insecurity in Pakistan has been building up for decades as per capita water availability has declined from...
Vaccine policy
01 May, 2026

Vaccine policy

PAKISTAN has finally approved its first National Vaccine Policy; a step the health ministry has rightly described as...
Labour rights
Updated 01 May, 2026

Labour rights

THE annual observance of May Day should move beyond statements about the state’s commitment to the rights of...