Facebook apps had some serious problems on Friday afternoon. Instagram and WhatsApp seem to be coming back online after almost an hour of inactivity.
The source of the disruption was not immediately clear, but WhatsApp and Instagram seemed the most affected. While they were turned off, the two applications were unable to update, with WhatsApp stuck on the “connection”. Likewise, Instagram displayed an error message that “the feed could not be updated”. Users have also reported problems accessing Facebook and Messenger, according to downdetector.com, which tracks service interruptions.
There are a number of issues affecting Facebook products, including game streams. Several teams are working on this and we will update it when possible.
– Games on Facebook (@FacebookGaming) March 19, 2021
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Twitter account for Facebook Gaming stated that “a number of problems” were affecting several Facebook services and that “several teams” were working on a fix.
Update 2:30 PM ET: This post has been updated to note that Facebook apps have come back online since this story was first published.
Update 3:15 PM ET: In a statement, a Facebook spokesman said the outages were caused by a “technical problem”, but gave no details about the cause. “Earlier today, a technical problem caused people to have problems accessing some Facebook services. We have solved this problem for everyone and apologize for any inconvenience. “