Apps might work a little differently – they would still show existing content, such as WhatsApp messages or Instagram posts – that have already been downloaded, but they were not be able to ask Facebook’s servers for new ones. When it comes to Facebook, that meant anyone attempting to access the site will see an error code, depending on what browser they use. To sign up to our breaking email alerts click here

Facebook’s servers should have provided them, but the phone book is in effect blank. When Facebook was down, however, that system was not working: the computer searches for the numbers it wants to see, but the numbers aren’t there. When a user types in a web address – such as – then the computer needs to turn that into a an IP address, which is a series of numbers, so that it can access the data that makes up the page you want to see. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to break the company up.This time around, at least some of the problems were related to the domain name system, or DNS, which works something like a phone book for the internet.

And it prompted calls from legislators like Rep. While the outage was frustrating for daily users of Instagram and Facebook, it was far more problematic for the millions of people who use WhatsApp as a primary communication tool. Four hours later, Schroepfer tweeted, “We are experiencing networking issues and teams are working as fast as possible to debug and restore as fast as possible.” Meanwhile, the company offered no explanations. Shortly after the outage occurred, Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone tweeted that the company was working to restore access to its apps. Even Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, nodded to the broad extent of the outage, tweeting that it 'does feel like a snow day.'

Others reported that the badges they use to enter Facebook buildings had stopped working. A number of employees told BuzzFeed News that they could not receive emails from outside addresses. Inside Facebook, the outage wreaked havoc across several crucial internal systems.

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