Facebook and Instagram Are Having Some Trouble Loading

What’s Going On?

Imagine you open your favorite app to see what your friends are up to, but nothing shows up. That’s what’s happening to some people on Facebook and Instagram right now.

• Some users around the world can’t see their feeds (the list of posts and pictures).
• This was noticed by two groups that watch the internet, and CNN also checked the apps themselves.

How Many People Are Affected?

A website called DownDetector keeps an eye on when apps stop working. Here’s what they found:

• Over 22,000 people in the United States said they had trouble with Facebook.
• These reports started at 3:44 a.m. ET on Sunday morning (that’s early morning US East Coast time).

Is This Just One Country?

Nope! Another internet watchdog called NetBlocks watches internet access all over the world.

• NetBlocks says Facebook and Instagram users are having problems in many countries.
• This is not because any single country turned off the internet. It’s a broader hiccup.

Important Point: The outages are international and are NOT caused by any country-level internet shutdown.

What About the Company Behind the Apps?

Facebook and Instagram are owned by a big company called Meta. (Think of Meta as the parent that runs both apps.)

• CNN has reached out to Meta to ask what’s happening.
• As of now, Meta has not yet replied publicly.

Story Status

This is a story that is still changing.

• New details may come out soon.
• CNN says it will update the story as more is learned.

Summary

Some Facebook and Instagram users worldwide can’t access their feeds. In the US alone, more than 22,000 people reported issues to DownDetector since early Sunday. NetBlocks confirmed the problem is international and not from a country blocking the internet. CNN has asked Meta for comment, and this is a developing story that will be updated.

FAQ

1. What does "outage" mean in kid terms?
It means the app isn’t working the way it should, like when a light switch doesn’t turn the light on.

2. What is DownDetector?
It’s a website that collects messages from people when apps or websites stop working, so we can see how big the problem is.

3. What is NetBlocks?
It’s a group that watches if the internet is working around the world and tells us when big parts go down.

4. Is my country definitely affected?
We know it’s international, but not every single person is having trouble. Some users can still get in fine.

5. Will the apps come back?
Most outages get fixed after a while. Since this is a developing story, we’ll learn more as Meta responds.