Widespread Service Interruptions Hit X
Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, is experiencing widespread service disruptions across multiple countries following a significant data centre outage.
The issues began on Thursday, May 22, with a sharp increase in reports recorded by DownDetector around 2pm Eastern and 11am Pacific.
At the peak of the disruption, over 2,500 users reported problems accessing the platform on both mobile and desktop devices.
Many users stated they could not sign in, send direct messages or access core functions such as loading new posts.
Although some services have resumed, the platform has not returned to full operational capacity.
Users first began reporting about X’s outage on Thursday, May 22
Company Statement Confirms Outage
On Thursday, X’s official engineering team confirmed the outage and acknowledged user difficulties in accessing the platform.
“X is aware some of our users are experiencing performance issues on the platform today,” the team posted.
“We are experiencing a data center outage and the team is actively working to remediate the issue.”
Possible Cause: Data Centre Fire in Oregon
On Friday, Wired reported that the disruption may stem from a fire at a data centre in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The facility is leased by X, and emergency crews were dispatched to handle the incident.
Although X has not publicly confirmed this detail, internal sources have suggested the fire caused substantial equipment failure.
Escalating User Complaints
As of Saturday, May 24, outage reports have grown sharply, with DownDetector logging over 25,000 reports from American users.
Most reports (68%) concerned app usage, while 20% referenced issues with the website and 12% with login functions.
Attempting to load new posts triggers the message: “Something went wrong. Try reloading.”
Downdetector users expressed concern as the platform failed to recover after a day-long disruption.
One user commented: “Twitter was down most of the day yesterday, and it’s down again today, what’s going on?”
Service Problems Reported in India
In India, users also reported persistent access issues with the app and website by Saturday morning.
According to DownDetector, reports exceeded 2,000 by 6pm local time, showing the outage’s global scale.
Core functions like logging in and accessing posts continue to fail across regions.
33% of users noted login issues, 47% reported problems with the app, and 20% with the website.
Ongoing Challenges Acknowledged by X
In a fresh update, X’s engineering team reiterated that problems are continuing due to the previous data centre outage.
“We’re still experiencing issues from yesterday’s data centre outage,” the update said.
“Login and signup services are unavailable for some users, and there may be delays in notifications and Premium features.”
The company has yet to fully disclose the cause or extent of the disruption.
Concerns Over Platform Stability and Data Security
Users and industry observers have raised concerns about the platform’s ability to secure data and communications.
The lack of clarity from the company has fuelled speculation about broader infrastructure or security vulnerabilities.
Background on Ownership and Previous Attacks
Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion (A$66 billion) and rebranded it as X.
After the acquisition, Musk laid off about 80% of the platform’s workforce and announced sweeping operational changes.
He posted: “The bird is freed”, followed by “Let the good times roll”.
In March 2025, it experienced a “massive cyber attack” that caused intermittent outages across the network.
Musk posted: “There was (still is) a massive cyber attack against it.”
He added: “We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved.”
Mounting Pressure to Restore Services
Technical teams at It are continuing to address the ongoing service disruptions affecting key user functions.
The inability to log in, post updates or access messages has affected millions of users globally.
With global reports still rising and core features non-functional, users remain frustrated by the delays.
Uncertainty Remains Over Full Restoration
The company has provided no timeline for complete recovery or mitigation of the disruption’s underlying causes.
Experts caution that data centre outages involving fire damage can take days to resolve fully.
Until engineers confirm system restoration, user access and platform stability will remain uncertain.
As of Saturday evening, the outage continues to affect thousands of users across key regions.
It has yet to release further updates or clarify the timeline for restoring all features.
Platform Faces Extended Downtime
The ongoing technical problems at It represent one of the platform’s most widespread outages in recent memory.
With rising concerns about infrastructure reliability and user data security, public scrutiny of It is intensifying.
Users across the United States, India and other regions remain locked out of core functions, highlighting the platform’s vulnerability.
It must now respond with transparency and urgency to restore trust and full operational capacity.
