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Facebook explains why the social network was down

The tech firm said the temporary outage was caused by a "routine test."

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Queenie Wong Former Senior Writer
Queenie Wong was a senior writer for CNET News, focusing on social media companies including Facebook's parent company Meta, Twitter and TikTok. Before joining CNET, she worked for The Mercury News in San Jose and the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. A native of Southern California, she took her first journalism class in middle school.
Expertise I've been writing about social media since 2015 but have previously covered politics, crime and education. I also have a degree in studio art. Credentials
  • 2022 Eddie award for consumer analysis
Gordon Gottsegen
Queenie Wong
Facebook logo seen displayed on smart phone

The Facebook app, website and Messenger were all affected.

SOPA Images

Did you have trouble accessing your Facebook feed? If so, you aren't alone.

Facebook was down this morning in the US, as well as other parts of the world. The outage, caused by a test the social network was conducting, lasted about 40 minutes.

"Earlier today, a routine test caused users to have trouble accessing or posting to all Facebook services including WhatsApp and Instagram," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "We quickly investigated and restored access for everyone. We're sorry for the inconvenience." 

Facebook declined to elaborate on what the company was testing on Monday or whether an outage was expected.

Users ran into various error messages when trying to access the Facebook app, website and Facebook Messenger. Several people at CNET also experienced problems.

facebook-error-message

This error message popped up when we tried to get on Facebook.

CNET

Affected areas include the east coast of the US, Mexico, Brazil and Peru, according to Down Detector.

People on Twitter also reported issues.

Update, 10:50 a.m. PT: Facebook is working again for people who previously reported issues.

Update, 2:05 p.m. PT: Added statement from Facebook spokesperson.

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