Searches for Facebook spiked on Google on Sunday after thousands of users reported problems accessing Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram in the United States and Singapore, triggering speculation about a possible outage.
According to Google Trends, interest in “Facebook” surged by 100%, crossing 50,000 searches as of 4 pm on July 19. The spike began roughly two hours earlier and remained elevated as users rushed online to check whether others were facing similar issues. Among the top related searches were “Is Instagram down?”, “Instagram down”, “Facebook down”, “FB login”, “Is Facebook down” and “Instagram not working”, reflecting widespread concern over the platforms’ availability.
Outage-tracking website Downdetector also recorded a sharp rise in complaints. Reuters reported that by 7:46 am GMT, the platform had logged 4,808 reports from Facebook users in the US. Nearly 63% of those affected said they were unable to access the Facebook website. In its latest update, Downdetector said 59% of complaints were related to the website, while 22% involved login issues and 14% were linked to the mobile app.
Instagram users experienced similar disruptions. Reuters reported that Downdetector had received 2,829 outage reports from Instagram users in the US by 8:18 am GMT, suggesting the issues affected multiple Meta platforms simultaneously.
Instagram users flag app, feed and posting issues
According to a Downdetector breakdown for Instagram, 39% of the reported problems concerned the application. Another 34% involved the feed or timeline, while 22% related to posting or publishing content.
The figures suggest that users faced different problems, including difficulties opening the app, loading their feeds or publishing posts. The data does not indicate that every Instagram user experienced the same disruption.
Downdetector tracks potential outages using reports submitted by users and information from other sources. Its figures do not represent the total number of affected users or amount to official confirmation from the company.
Access intermittent in Singapore
Checks conducted by Reuters found that access to Facebook and Instagram was intermittent in Singapore. The platforms were available at certain times but inaccessible or unstable at others.
The cause, geographical extent and expected duration of the reported problems remained unclear. Meta had not issued an official explanation for the disruptions.