Facebook, its messaging app and two other platforms it owns — Instagram and WhatsApp — all went offline around midday eastern time on Monday, in what appears to be a global outage.
Users are unable to refresh the apps or reach the web pages, getting a server error message instead.
Such outages are not uncommon, but this one comes while Facebook is facing extra scrutiny.
“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” tweeted Facebook policy communications director Andy Stone. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
The WhatsApp Twitter account also acknowledged some users are experiencing issues with the app, adding, “We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible.”
TechCrunch reports that the outage appears to have been caused by a DNS (domain name server) fail.
It explains that has to do with the naming structure behind the web’s infrastructure: “So, if you try to navigate to facebook.com right now, the internet won’t know where to find facebook.com.”