Facebook and Instagram went down for the second time in three days on July 22, 2026, leaving thousands of users unable to access the platforms. The outage began at approximately 12:45 p.m. BST and affected more than 5,000 users across both services, according to Downdetector, a website that tracks internet disruptions.
Outage Details and User Impact
As of 1:00 p.m., 4,400 users reported problems with Facebook, while nearly 600 experienced issues with Instagram. Most users encountered difficulties using the mobile apps, though some desktop access was also disrupted. One frustrated Facebook user told Metro.co.uk: 'Urgh down again. Getting, “Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.”'
Global Reach and Meta's Response
The disruption extended beyond the UK, with thousands of users in the United States and Spain also reporting problems. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, did not acknowledge any known issues on its status page at the time of reporting. This marks the second significant outage for the platforms since Sunday, July 20, raising concerns about reliability.
Context and Industry Reaction
The repeated outages come amid ongoing scrutiny of Meta's infrastructure and its ability to maintain service stability. Users took to other social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to express frustration. The incidents highlight the dependence of millions on these services for communication and business.
