What’s Behind Instagram’s Latest Global Outage That Has Locked Thousands Of User Accounts

Seems like some Halloween horror might have struck Meta’s photo-sharing platform Instagram as it has been facing a global outage since the morning of 31 October 2022. While for millions of users the app is crashing, many are being locked out or their accounts being suspended.

Not just the app, many users across the world have also reported facing a glitchy web version of the social media platform as well. Though Instagram has responded that the company is taking action and looking into the matter, there has been a serious dip in numbers and other consequences because of this global outage.

What we know about the Instagram global outage

What has happened

With features such as e-commerce, reels, personal blogging, news sharing and more, Instagram today is a one-stop destination for all kinds of information, entertainment and data. Any glitch or even a moment’s disturbance can have huge effects on an unfathomably large audience.

On 31 October, the app faced a major global outage as users shared screenshots of the app crashing. Soon Twitter was flooded with screenshots of people being locked out and their accounts suspended for violating certain community rules. The notification comes with the warning that the user has 30 days time to disagree with the decision and if Instagram is unable to confirm their identity, the account will get permanently disabled.

Out of those affected, many reportedly have private accounts and did not post anything derogatory that would violate any rules. Media reports also suggest that this issue is mainly concentrated among iPhone users who were unable to use the app after installing an update in the morning.

What has Instagram said

Instagram has acknowledged this issue and has responded to it with a tweet which reads, “We’re aware that some of you are having issues accessing your Instagram account. We’re looking into it and apologize for the inconvenience.” Following this #instagramdown started trending as well.

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Dip in followers

Following this outage, several noted Instagram accounts have seen a major fall in followers count. One of the highest-followed accounts belonging to ace footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly lost 3 million followers while Instagram’s own primary account has lost over a million followers.

(Main and feature Image credit: Solen Feyissa/ @solenfeyissa/ Unsplash)

This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia India