Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Suffer Outages after Whistleblower Goes Public

by Kathy Grear 10/04/2021

Just one day after a whistleblower claimed that Facebook is aware of how its used to spread hate, violence and misinformation, Facebook suffered major outages on Monday, October 4.

Instagram and WhatsApp – both owned by Facebook – also were shuttered.

“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” Facebook officials wrote on Twitter.

“We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

The tracking site, Down Detector, reported “tens of thousands of reports for each of the services.”

While Facebook would load on Monday; Instagram and WhatsApp were only accessible for viewing. Users couldn’t load content or send messages.

The problems surfaced – coincidentally, or not – after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen made her claims on “60 Minutes.”

She said Facebook worked to hide evidence that individuals and entities used the site to spread hate, push violence and misinformation.
Facebook has denied those claims.