FACEBOOK. The Facebook site but also the Messenger, Instagram or Whatsapp apps are inaccessible this Monday, October 4. The problem, which started at 5 pm, has still not been solved and is believed to have come from the server. Facebook is currently trying to find a solution.
[Updated October 4, 2021 at 9:23 pm] But what is happening among the web giants? Since the end of the afternoon on Monday, you’ve surely noticed that your social networks are rowing and that instant messaging is not working at all. In reality, this is a giant global outage that has affected the Facebook group’s websites since 5 pm this October 4. The Facebook site (as well as its app) is victim of a breakdown that still made the platform inaccessible this Monday evening. The message “Unable to find the IP address of the facebook.com server” is displayed on the user screen. No need to reset your Internet connection or turn on your smartphone, the problem is worldwide with a Facebook site become “down”.
The outage also affects the other sites, apps and platforms of the Facebook group. Messenger, the messaging app linked to Facebook but also the messaging service Whatsapp were also stranded this Monday night. The Instagram app, purchased by Facebook a few years ago, is also part of the services that are down. However, no error message is displayed on these networks, which must have required long minutes of patience from many Internet users! The Facebook app network has an average of more than 2.7 billion daily users.
Several American media outlets, such as Bloomberg, which quotes a spokesperson for the company, report that some internal services used by Facebook employees, including the Workplace tool used for team communication, are also out of service.
“We are endeavouring to rectify the situation as quickly as possible and we apologize for any inconvenience,” the company tweeted shortly after 6 pm.
The current outage is worldwide, affecting many western countries, including France, and particularly those where these services are most used. According to the data from the Downdetector site, which lists outages affecting Internet services as well as access providers, the outage started on Monday, October 4 shortly after 5 pm French time and was still ongoing at 9 pm. This is not the first time this year that the Facebook group’s websites are affected by outages, a similar problem had occurred on March 25, 2021 in the morning. Earlier in the year, a outage occurred on March 19, 2021, making connections to the sites impossible for nearly an hour.
Where did the Facebook outage come from and what message is displayed?
The origin of the Facebook outage remains mysterious. If Facebook did not give an official explanation of the origin of the breakdown, several experts mention an internal bug in the routing system. According to Numerama, the problem could indeed come from the server, named DNS. Domain Name System (in French) allows you to link your IP address to a website.
Different messages can be displayed when you are looking to connect to the Facebook site on Monday. This site is inaccessible” but especially “impossible to find the address of the server” can be displayed on the page of the search engine, next to the address of Facebook. The first official reaction came from Andy Stone, spokesman for the band, who had to use the Twitter competitor to communicate! ” We are aware that some people have difficulty accessing our applications and products. We are working towards a return to normal as soon as possible and we apologize for this inconvenience,’ he tweeted shortly after 17H, French time. A message taken word for word on the official Twitter account (cf. above).
How long is the Facebook outage?
The global blackout on Facebook started late in the afternoon, around 5 p.m. French time. The Downdetector site detects many problems from that time on Monday 4 October with a peak from 17:20. The same goes for Instagram, Whatsapp or Messenger sites. In any case, it is difficult to predict the duration of the outage that was still going on this Monday at 9 pm, since Facebook’s communication on the subject was non-existent.
Usually, Facebook outages are quickly resolved, but this seems particularly important, impacting the service for about 4 hours. Last March, a widespread bug had also put users on hold for long minutes, but it had lasted less than an hour before a gradual return to normal of Facebook sites but also Instagram and Whatsapp.
Is it possible to bypass the outage to access Facebook?
No, the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Facebook site and its little cousins is involved, and therefore the routing system of these sites, any access is simply impossible for the Internet users. This is an internal problem that cannot be overcome today. It is thus impossible to view the Facebook news feed but also to send or receive messages via Messenger or Whatsapp. The problem is also global and affects many countries. France is therefore affected, but so is the United States. However, it is not impossible that the restoration of services is gradual and involves a degraded mode during the first minutes of return of the sites.
Instagram outage: why can’t you access the app?
Instagram is an app launched in 2010 and bought in 2012 by Facebook. Since then, the bridges between the two sites have been numerous, just like the stories that can be shared on both sites. Problem: when a breakdown occurs, it can affect both services. This is indeed the case on Monday, October 4. The global outage observed this Monday evening affects the Facebook site and its mobile app as well as the Instagram app. No need to turn your smartphone back on or download the Instagram app again. According to the Downdetector site, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., nearly 100,000 error reports were sent by Internet users who could not log in.
Whatsapp down: why is the app unavailable on Monday 4 October?
Whatsapp is an instant messaging service used by millions of Internet users. Very useful on smartphone, it allows to access to group conversations, by written message or video. The application created in 2009 was bought by Facebook in 2014 and, like Instagram, the bridges were numerous with Facebook, at the cost of many criticisms on the security and use of personal data, the last one was in the spring of 2021 when Whatsapp users were notified of the changes to the app’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. As Whatsapp and Facebook are linked, the breakdown this October 4 affects both services.
Source :L’internaute
