WhatsApp

Facebook apologises as services including Instagram hit again

The company said that a "configuration change" had impacted users globally.

It added that the incident was not related to the outage that saw its products taken offline for over six hours earlier this week.

Its Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Workplace products had been affected, it said.

"We're so sorry if you weren't able to access our products during the last couple of hours," the company said it a statement on Friday evening. "We know how much you depend on us to communicate with one another. We fixed the issue - thanks again for your patience this week."

Gone in Minutes, Out for Hours: Outage Shakes Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook and its family of apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, were inaccessible for hours on Monday, taking out a vital communications platform used by billions and showcasing just how dependent the world has become on a company that is under intense scrutiny.

Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram suffer outage

All three services are owned by Facebook and could not be accessed over the web or smartphone apps.

Downdetector, which tracks outages, logged tens of thousands of outage reports for all three platforms from around the world.

Facebook's chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer has tweeted his "sincere apologies" to those affected.

"We are experiencing networking issues and teams are working as fast as possible to debug and restore as fast as possible," he wrote.

Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp go down

"We're aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products," Facebook said on Twitter. "We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience."
Outage tracking site Down Detector logged tens of thousands of reports for each of the services. Facebook's own site would not load at all for about an hour on Monday; Instagram and WhatsApp were accessible, but could not load new content or send messages.

New WhatsApp policy to share user data with Facebook draws backlash

WhatsApp alerted users to the controversial change to its privacy policy via an in-app notification which asks them to agree to share personal data, including their phone number and IP address, with Facebook.

“By tapping Agree, you accept the new terms, which take effect on February 8, 2021,” the notification states, adding “After this date, you’ll need to accept the new terms to continue using WhatsApp. You can also visit the Help Center if you would prefer to delete your account."

Users who do not accept the new policy by February 8 will lose access to their accounts.

Facebook and WhatsApp 'pause' Hong Kong police help

Several countries, including the UK, have criticised China for imposing new security laws, which they say threaten the territory's long-standing autonomy.

Facebook said it would stop considering the requests, "pending further assessment" of the human rights issues.

No personal information about users in the region was held at or disclosed from its Hong Kong office, it added.

"We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions," Facebook said.

WhatsApp to stop working on millions of phones

Android and iPhone devices which only support outdated operating systems will no longer be able to run the Facebook-owned app.

WhatsApp said the move was necessary in order to protect the security of its users.

Smartphones using Android 2.3.7 and older, and iPhone iOS 8 or older, are those affected by the update.

The operating systems that WhatsApp is dropping support for are legacy operating systems, which are no longer updated or installed on new devices.

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Facebook boss reveals changes in response to criticism

The new designs and features for its apps are a direct response to widespread criticism of how the firm protects user data.

Mr Zuckerberg said the company plans to put privacy first.

He acknowledged that there was much to do to rebuild trust.

In a speech to developers, Mr Zuckerberg described the firm's new focus on privacy as "a major shift" in how the company is run.

Some of the more visible changes to those who use the firm's products will include:

WhatsApp and Facebook to face EU data taskforce

The regulators took issue with the messaging app's plan to share user data with parent company Facebook.

A group of watchdogs and regulators from EU nations, known as the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, said WhatsApp had not fixed issues raised.

WhatsApp and Facebook have yet to reply to the BBC's request for comment.

Facebook bought the messaging app in 2014 and pledged to keep it independent from its social network.

Is WhatsApp being censored in China?

Many reported that voice messaging and pictures wouldn't send without a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent China's censorship filters.

The seemed to be working normally on Wednesday morning, but there have been more interruptions since then.

The disruptions come as China clamps down on online platforms.

 

What was the disruption?

Users began noticing over the weekend that WhatsApp wouldn't send pictures, voice messages and video, although text messages continued to work normally.