Twitter/X goes offline for many across the globe

X abruptly went offline for many users around the world today, and for a platform that’s always alive with notifications, quips, and breaking memes, its sudden silence felt like someone hit pause on the world’s loudest speaker. Twitter, now firmly rebranded as X, has become so woven into our daily feed-scrolling rituals, that when the screen flickers blank, it’s hard not to panic (or at least wonder if your internet’s at fault again).

While outages have been, let’s say, a recurring guest star, this one took “down for many users” to a new level, leaving timelines frozen and DMs in limbo. It’s a reminder that even the most entrenched social platforms aren’t immune to, well… disappearing acts.

Thousands report service disruption as X faces yet another high-profile global blackout

Today’s widespread blackout wasn’t just a temporary glitch but a global timeout that reminded us exactly how reliant users have become on X. According to Downdetector, over 16,400 reports flooded in by 11:01 a.m. ET, signaling a serious service disruption across the United States and likely beyond.

Meanwhile, earlier in May, thousands more users around the world faced similar trouble when a data centre failure knocked the platform offline, with access issues plaguing both the mobile app and website, though, notably, India appeared to bear the brunt a little more lightly.

But that wasn't the only time Twitter took an unscheduled nap. Back in March, Elon Musk himself pointed the finger at a “massive cyberattack,” claiming the blackout had the resources of a coordinated group or even a nation behind it.

A hacker collective named Dark Storm Team even claimed responsibility, saying bluntly, “We took Twitter offline”. Experts weighed in, suggesting that the likeliest culprit was a DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attack, a classic move for taking servers out by overwhelming them.

In each case, users were left stranded and unable to log in, tweet, reply, or slide into DMs. Surface-level features like feeds, trending sections, and messaging were down, leaving frustrated users stranded on rival platforms, venting their angst (and meme content) on Instagram, Reddit, Threads, you name it.

While X’s engineering team has occasionally issued terse updates like acknowledging a data centre outage or promising that fixes are underway, wider technical transparency is, shall we say, in short supply. In May, for example, their engineering account admitted to performance issues and confirmed a data center problem, but stopped short of laying out a full fix timeline.

Why does any of this matter? Because for many users, X is more than just a social app; it’s a newsroom, a business one-stop shop, a meme factory, and a lifeline for connection. When it goes offline, the digital world doesn’t just pause - it is muted.

Let’s hope that behind the scenes, engineers are working overtime to shore up infrastructure, re-evaluate cyber protections, and keep X from turning silent again.