Thousands of UAE users reported experiencing network issues and outages on social media and messaging apps on Wednesday. Many faced problems sending and receiving messages on WhatsApp and encountered loading issues on Facebook and Instagram.
On the platform X (formerly Twitter), users shared memes about the outage. Some reported encountering an error message saying, “Something went wrong,” with Meta confirming it was working to resolve the issue.
Meta’s Response
Meta acknowledged the problem in a statement posted on X, saying:
“We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.”
By 10:10 PM on Wednesday, Downdetector.ae recorded over 1,300 reports of issues with Instagram and Facebook.
Extent of the Outage
According to Downdetector, over 2,500 users in the UAE reported WhatsApp issues at the same time. Globally, more than:
- 12,000 reports highlighted WhatsApp outages.
- 27,000 users faced problems with Facebook.
- 28,000 users reported issues with Instagram.
The outage started around 9:50 PM UAE time (12:50 PM ET).
Previous Outages
This isn’t the first time users have experienced disruptions on Meta platforms. Earlier this year, a technical problem caused a global outage impacting hundreds of thousands of users. In October, another issue briefly disrupted services, but they were restored within an hour.
