Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram reportedly suffer outages

By Will Nicol Published June 15, 2020

Facebook and Instagram experienced outages Monday afternoon, according to reports on DownDetector.

Users reported that both the Facebook website and Facebook Messenger were down. Instagram users also reported that direct messages were not working on the platform.

Recommended Videos

Digital Trends tried using both platforms, and while Messenger conversations loaded slowly, both Facebook’s site and the Instagram app appeared to load, suggesting any outage may have been a regional problem.

By 2:30 p.m. PT, service had been restored to all three services.

We’ve reached out to Facebook for comment, and will update with more information when we hear back.

Will Nicol

Former Senior Writer

Will Nicol is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends. He covers a variety of subjects, particularly emerging technologies, movies…

Topics

Social Media

Instagram and WhatsApp lead in sextortion reports, iMessage is weaponized against teenagers: Report

Over 2,000 complaints in six months, and the platforms are still playing catch-up.

If you use Instagram, WhatsApp, or iMessage, you need to know what is happening on these platforms. Australia's online safety regulator, eSafety, has published a new transparency report, and the findings are grim.

As reported by The Guardian, the regulator found significant gaps in how the biggest tech companies are handling online sexual extortion and child sexual exploitation, even as the reports keep climbing.

Social Media

Europe plans a wide social media ban for children

The plan would bar kids under 13 from social media completely, with looser rules for teens up to 18.

Europe is taking its biggest step yet toward keeping kids off social media entirely. A panel of experts today handed the European Commission a report recommending sweeping new age restrictions, according to a New York Times report. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is expected to turn those recommendations into a formal law proposal in September.

What the proposal aims to restrict

Social Media

The days of unrestricted social media for children may be coming to an end

Social media could soon look very different for younger users

What started as a policy experiment in Australia has quickly turned into a global movement. Governments around the world are increasingly questioning whether children should have unrestricted access to social media, with more than 20 countries now either enforcing, proposing, or actively debating age-based restrictions. According to an AFP tally, at least five countries already have nationwide restrictions in force, while many others - including several European nations - are preparing to follow suit.

The momentum comes amid growing concerns over the impact of social media on children's mental health, online safety, sleep patterns, and exposure to harmful content. Policymakers are also under pressure to address addictive recommendation algorithms, cyberbullying, and the growing use of AI-generated content that can make online platforms even harder for young users to navigate.