X outage disrupts users for hours

PARIS:

Social media platform X briefly suffered what monitors described as "international outages" on Monday, disrupting access for users across multiple countries before services were restored later in the afternoon.

The Elon Musk-owned network began functioning normally again around 1530 GMT, with posts reappearing and users able to log in and publish content, after outage-tracking website Downdetector recorded a sharp spike in problem reports roughly two hours earlier.

Connectivity monitor Netblocks said X appeared to be experiencing "international outages" during the disruption, adding that the breakdown was "not related to country-level internet disruptions or filtering".

Netblocks regularly tracks technical failures affecting major online services as well as government-imposed restrictions. Downdetector data showed reports of problems peaked in Pakistan at 6:54pm, when 275 users flagged issues, before gradually falling to single digits within the following hour.

AFP journalists in countries including France and Thailand also reported being unable to access the platform during the outage. Spokespeople for X did not respond to requests for comment before services were restored.

Netblocks noted that its most recent alerts on similar disruptions to X had been posted on February 9 - the day after the Super Bowl in the United States - and earlier on February 1. Last month, the platform also faced outages on January 13 and January 16, affecting thousands of users worldwide.

(WITH INPUTS FROM NEWS DESK)