Twitter Suffers Global Outage, Cites ‘Trouble’ With Internal Systems

Twitter Suffers Global Outage, Cites ‘Trouble’ With Internal Systems
Logos of U.S. online news and social networking service Twitter displayed on computers' screens on Nov. 20, 2017. (Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images)
Isabel van Brugen
10/15/2020
Updated:
10/16/2020

Twitter said Thursday evening that its social networking platform was down for many users worldwide due to “some trouble” with its internal systems.

For more than an hour, tens of thousands of Twitter users reported having trouble accessing the social media site, refreshing their timelines, and sending tweets.

Users in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia all reported issues with the site, with many saying that it was displaying error messages that read “Something went wrong” and “Tweets aren’t loading right now.”

The tech giant announced in a post on its support page that it was working to resolve the issues with the site, saying that there had been “some trouble” with the internal systems and no evidence of a security breach or hack.

“Twitter has been down for many of you and we’re working to get it back up and running for everyone,” the company wrote. “We had some trouble with our internal systems and don’t have any evidence of a security breach or hack.”

“We know people are having trouble tweeting and using Twitter,” a company spokesperson told Variety earlier. “We’re working to fix this issue as quickly as possible. We’ll share more when we have it and tweet from @TwitterSupport when we can—stay tuned.”

This illustration photo shows an editor in Los Angeles looking at the official Twitter account of President Donald Trump on May 26, 2020. (AFP via Getty Images)
This illustration photo shows an editor in Los Angeles looking at the official Twitter account of President Donald Trump on May 26, 2020. (AFP via Getty Images)
According to outage tracking website Downdetector.com, at one point, as many as 58,000 Twitter users reported trouble accessing the site, with reports of problems using the platform beginning to spike just after 5:30 p.m. ET. By 9 p.m. ET, reports had dropped to less than 2,000.
The outage came a day after the tech giant locked the accounts of Twitter users who shared a New York Post article related to a negative news story about Hunter Biden, former vice president Joe Biden’s son, on their accounts.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who was temporarily locked out of her personal Twitter account on Wednesday after she shared the article, accused the company of censorship after it said that her post violated Twitter’s rules against “distribution of hacked material.”
The NYP article shared by McEnany centered on alleged documents and photographs obtained by the New York Post and now allegedly in the hands of the FBI, which included an alleged email indicating that Hunter allegedly introduced his father, who was serving as vice president at the time, to a top Ukrainian natural gas executive at Hunter’s request. The Epoch Times has not been able to independently verify the NYP’s claims.
The Biden campaign has denied the allegations, saying it reviewed Joe Biden’s official schedules from the time and that “no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place.”

“It’s not a temporary blockage,” McEnany told Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday evening. “When I log on to my Twitter account, it says I’m permanently banned. They essentially have me at gunpoint and said unless you delete this story, a news story by the New York Post, I cannot regain access to my account.”

“This is not the American way,” McEnany continued. “This is not how a freedom-loving democracy operates. We have to hold Twitter accountable, and Facebook too, who is banning the transmission of this story because ideologically it hurts the side of the aisle that Silicon Valley prefers.

“It’s sad, it’s censorship. This is not America.”

The outage also comes months after the company had reported a breach its internal systems. In July, hackers were able to access accounts including that of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Elon Musk, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, and used them to solicit digital currency.