Why is Facebook down? What I've seen.

I'm getting some reader questions asking if I know why the entire Facebook empire is down. This is the answer I am seeing most frequently.

ThousandEyes @thousandeyes

ThousandEyes tests can confirm that at 15:40 UTC on October 4, the Facebook application became unreachable due to DNS failure. Facebook’s authoritative DNS nameservers became unreachable at that time. The issue is still ongoing as of 17:02 UTC.

I'm not a computer engineer, but the DNS (Domain Name System) is how computers find specific websites. Right now, our computers can't find Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp.

Johnathan Ford⬅️ @FordJohnathan5

#BreakingNews Someone literally burnt the road map to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. It’s the map your computer or device needs to reach it. It’s literally gone. I have never seen this before. 😳🤪

It has also been reported that Facebook may have accidentally done this to itself this morning.

Reports that Facebook is "gone" are being discredited. Facebook and the other apps are still there, they are just unreachable at the moment. There haven't been any creditable reports of how long it will take to restore service.

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