Thousands of users worldwide encountered difficulties accessing the widely-used instant messaging app WhatsApp, owned by Meta, as widespread outages disrupted services last night, April 3, 2024. Users expressed frustration as they experienced issues on both mobile devices and web browsers.
The cause of the outage remains unclear, leaving millions of users unable to utilize the platform for communication. Meta has not yet issued an official statement regarding the situation.
Downdetector, a prominent website that monitors web outages, showed a significant increase in users reporting problems with WhatsApp services.
In response to the situation, WhatsApp acknowledged the issue in a statement, saying, “We know some people are experiencing issues right now; we’re working on getting things back to 100% for everyone as quickly as possible.”
Users, including Dubai resident Nasreen and Abu Dhabi resident S Jalil, reported difficulties sending messages and experiencing undelivered messages, prompting concerns about network connectivity.
Frustrated users took to social media platforms to voice their complaints about the outage, highlighting the impact on their ability to communicate.
This outage marks the second time this year that Meta-owned platforms have faced service disruptions. In March, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Discord experienced a similar outage, affecting many users in the UAE for over an hour.