PH users recount ordeal during global outage of Meta apps

Users across the globe reported temporary access issues on major Meta platforms on Friday night, affecting services such as Meta Platforms, including Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.

According to a report by Bea Pinlac on “24 Oras Weekend,” many users were suddenly logged out of their accounts shortly after 9 p.m., causing disruptions in communication and online activity.

Some users described the outage as stressful and inconvenient. One user, Pamela, said she was unable to access her account for about two hours and could not recall her password, which also affected her personal communications.

“It was very inconvenient because the service was down for a long time. I was disappointed because I couldn’t contact my boyfriend,” she said.

Another user, senior citizen Yolanda, said her online conversations were abruptly interrupted, forcing her to repeatedly attempt logging back in without success.

“I was chatting while lying down, then suddenly everything was gone. I couldn’t send messages anymore. I kept trying again and again, but it kept bringing me back to the login page,” she said.

Data from the outage monitoring site DownDetector showed that more than 100,000 reports of issues were logged globally for Facebook, while Instagram recorded around 10,000 reports during the disruption. Services were restored after several hours.

Tech journalist Jing Garcia said the impact of such outages can be significant, especially for users who rely on the platforms for business and daily communication.

“When this happens suddenly, especially for people monetizing their accounts or running businesses, they are really affected,” Garcia said.

“If it lasts longer, say 24 hours, the impact would be even greater. Sometimes, this is their only way to connect with others, so it affects them emotionally and psychologically,” he added.

The disruption also affected workers and vendors who rely on Meta platforms for coordination and transactions.

One worker, Chris Andre Ortega, said delays accumulated in their workload due to communication issues with clients.

A vendor, Michael Flores, said the outage disrupted their check-in and coordination processes through group chats essential to their operations.

“There were delays with clients, so our production workload kept piling up,” Ortega said.

“We have to time in and time out in our group chat, but I wasn’t able to log in because it’s important for our work,” Flores said.

Garcia added that such outages could also lead to economic losses, particularly for businesses heavily dependent on Meta’s ecosystem.

Meta has yet to issue a statement on the cause of the latest outage.

Authorities and users advised the public to remain calm during similar disruptions, as alternative platforms remain available.

“There are still other social media platforms. There are many options,” Pamela said.

“I’ll just sit back, relax, and look around for now,” Yolanda added.—MCG, GMA News