Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, experienced significant outages affecting thousands of users. Reports of issues began around 6 a.m. Eastern Time, with over 40,000 users reporting problems by 10 a.m. A subsequent surge occurred in the afternoon, with more than 25,000 additional complaints. Users encountered buffering issues and error messages stating that posts weren’t loading.
Musk attributed these disruptions to a “massive cyberattack,” suggesting that the scale and coordination implied involvement from a large group or potentially a nation-state. He noted that while X faces daily attacks, this incident was particularly resource-intensive, indicating a higher level of sophistication. The platform’s technical team is actively investigating to trace the source of the attack.
In response to the outages, many frustrated users migrated to Threads, a competing app launched by Meta in 2023. X did not immediately comment on the situation.
This incident underscores the growing challenges social media platforms face in safeguarding against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. The involvement of substantial resources in this attack raises concerns about the potential actors behind it and the motives driving such large-scale disruptions. As X continues its investigation, users are advised to stay informed through official channels and exercise caution with unsolicited communications on the platform.