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Facebook and Instagram were down for thousands of people — live updates

Meta's platforms are back after a major outage

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By Kate Kozuch
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The Facebook icon next to an icon labeled 'Ads' on an iPhone screen.
(Image: © Primakov/Shutterstock)

Are Facebook and Instagram down? If you’re wondering whether both these Meta-owned social media platforms are facing service issues, we’re here with the latest outage update. According to Down Detector, the services went down for many users on Tuesday, March 5 around 10 a.m. ET, but have mostly recovered nearly three hours later.

If you look at each chart on Down Dectector’s site, you’ll see sharp spikes, indicating an influx of user-reported outages. As of about 10:30 a.m. ET, Down Detector says the number of outage reports for Facebook execeed 500,000. At the same time, the number of outage reports for Instagram maxed out past 75,000. 

This is far from the first time both Facebook and Instagram suffered from simultaneous outages. As you might expect, this kind of outage also impacts Facebook Messenger and Threads, subsidiaries of both social media platforms. Sometimes, the outages last several hours, and sometimes they're resolved much more quickly.

Although there's not much else to report now that the services are back online, you can see the timeline of events, as well as statements from Meta, below. 

Refresh

As of 10:33 a.m. ET, the number of users reporting issues with Facebook has exceeded 350,000.

Looking for more information about the outage, users are turning to X with a good sense of humor. 

It seems like the outage reports are trending downward. This would suggest that the issue that caused both Facebook and Instagram to go down is actively being resolved. 

Down Detector

(Image credit: Down Detector)

how to make yourself anonymous on Facebook

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

There seems to be concerns online that Facebook accounts have been hacked, and that's why the platform isn't working properly.

No, your Facebook hasn't been hacked. But if you do ever have an issue with someone else accessing your account, make sure you know what to do if your Facebook account is hacked.

As of 11:30 a.m. ET, outage reports for Facebook and Instagram are both trending downward. The number of reports for Instagram dropped below 30,000, and the number of reports for Facebook dropped below 90,000. That's a big improvement, considering that the number of Facebook reports exceeded 500,000 at the height of the outage about one hour ago.

Can't refresh feed

(Image credit: Future)

Although outage numbers are trending downward, I just checked my own Instagram and Facebook accounts, and sure enough, both are still having issues.

Using the mobile app via iOS, on Facebook, I'm unable to log in to my account. On Instagram, I'm logged in, but I can't see any new posts posted within the last few hours. When I try to swipe down to refresh my feed, I get 'Couldn't refresh feed' error message you see above.

Meta provides outage update

What has Meta had to say about today's outage? Andy Stone, the company's communications director, posted on X to address the issue:

"We're aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now."

Threads down

(Image credit: Future)

In addition to Instagram, Threads is currently down. The Instagram-based X rival isn't nearly as popular as Facebook or Instagram, so the number of outage reports from users fell under 1,000.

I checked my own Threads app, and sure enough, I can't see anything in my feed. I can still view my account and account activity, but I'm unable to see posts from other users. Weirdly, it seems I'm still able to post a new thread. 

There are reports that Instagram, Facebook, and Threads is back up for some users. We've checked for ourselves and a couple of Tom's Guide editors confirm they are able to get access to their accounts.

Down Detector Facebook.

(Image credit: Down Detector)

Service outage web site Down Detector is showing fewer reported outages with Facebook, which could indicate that the service disruption might be nearing its end.

Meta Stock Price.

(Image credit: Google)

If you were wondering how these service disruptions are effecting its stock value, Meta's stock was trading for as low as $488.10 a share today, but it has since rebounded.

Meta's comms boss, Andy Stone, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the technical issue has been resolved and the company apologizes for any inconveniences.

Given that all of Meta's services seem to be back online, we're going to wind down this live blog of the outage. If you're still having issues with Facebook, Instagram or Threads, let us know! You can find us everywhere on social @TomsGuide.