Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram hit by outage

Social Media sites, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are inaccessible by millions of users across the world.

When navigating these websites or apps, a server error will appear, Instagram is showing a “5xx server error,” which indicates that this is an issue with Facebook’s servers.

Users are also unable to send messages or load new content on the mobile apps for these platforms.

The social media sites have remained down for at least two hours and counting.

“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said on Twitter.

WhatsApp in a short statement on Twitter said, “We’re aware that some people are experiencing issues with WhatsApp at the moment. We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible, Thanks for your patience!.”

The outage comes at a time, Facebook stock has gone down about 5.5 percent, the social media giant is currently facing scrutiny in the U.S. Senate after whistle-blower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents to the Wall Street Journal alleging the social media giant knew its products were fuelling hate and harming children’s mental health.

The social media platform has been embroiled in a firestorm brought about by Haugen, with US lawmakers and The Wall Street Journal detailing how Facebook knew its products, including Instagram, were harming young girls, especially around body image.