United States: Twitter has suffered a significant outage, leaving many users unable to access the popular social media site. Several users who attempted to access the microblogging site were faced with an error screen.
Internet outage tracking service Downdetector reported receiving more than 8,700 user reports of issues with the site as of 7:30 AM. “User reports indicate Twitter is having problems since 7:13 EST,” Downdetector tweeted.
The outage, which seems to be impacting a number of nations, hasn’t totally shut down the website because many users can still access the platform. Additionally, some users noted performance variations between the platform’s desktop and mobile versions.
Mr. Elon Musk, who bought Twitter in October for $44 billion, tweeted that the website “Works for me.”
Downdetector had only accumulated 774 user complaints of errors, suggesting that the outage looked to have subsided within a few hours after its occurrence as of 10:11 PM.
The disruption is the latest example of turmoil at Twitter since Mr. Musk’s takeover, which has polarised the platform’s users. One of the richest men in the world and the CEO of Tesla, Mr. Elon Musk, has cut the platform’s staff, launched a paid subscriber service, and oversaw contentious changes to its moderation policy, which he has framed as a win for free speech.
While many on the left have expressed concerns about the rise of hate speech and false information under Mr. Musk’s leadership, conservatives who have long complained about Twitter’s alleged bias in favour of liberal viewpoints have embraced his ownership of the platform.
Investors in Tesla, whose share price has fallen by about 70 percent this year, are concerned about Musk’s focus on the platform, where he frequently expresses his opinions about current events. Earlier this month, Mr. Musk stated he would step down as Twitter’s chief executive once a replacement was found after users voted for him to go in a poll he created.