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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Widespread outage reports started Friday morning.
• Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp affected.
• Meta has not yet explained the disruption.

Facebook is having a rough end to the week, with users reporting widespread problems across Meta-owned apps Friday morning. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp all began having trouble at 10:15 am ET.

Right now, Meta has not publicly explained what's causing the disruption. 

Downdetector shows more than 80,000 reports of problems with Facebook, while Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp also have spikes in user complaints. Downdetector and ZDNET are both owned by Ziff Davis.

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When I checked this morning, Facebook's mobile app worked, but the desktop site gave me an error. Instagram would not load at all and instead showed an endless loading screen. Messenger technically worked, but messages were slow to send and recieve.  

ZDNET has contacted Meta for details.

What appears to be affected

Based on the early outage reports, the problems involve multiple Meta-owned services, including:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Facebook Messenger
• WhatsApp

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While these are separate products, they often do still depend on shared infrastructure behind the scenes. Large outages affect users unevenly, however, depending on region, device, and other factors. I searched X and found that some users reported trouble logging in, while others reported slow loading, blank screens, error messages, or trouble using features. 

Why do outages like this happen?

Meta has not confirmed the cause, so there is no official answer yet. But with platforms this large, outages can stem from a range of issues, from infrastructure or cloud-provider problems to botched software updates, technical failures, or even cyberattacks.

Is this a security issue?

There is no evidence yet that Friday morning's outage is tied to an incident. Meta has not said what caused the disruption, and outage reports alone can't tell us what the problem is or whether it's a security issue. That said, outages can be an opportune time for scammers. Be skeptical of posts, texts, or emails promising to restore access to Facebook or Instagram.

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Always go directly to the app or official website instead.

This story is developing and will be updated as more becomes available.