Fri Jan 16 20:20:00 UTC 2026: ### X (Formerly Twitter) Experiences Major Outage Amidst Ongoing Criticism

The Story:
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, suffered a significant outage on Friday, January 16, 2026. Users worldwide reported that the site and app were inaccessible, displaying blank screens or Cloudflare error messages. While service appeared to be restored for many by the afternoon, the cause of the outage remained unclear. The incident comes at a time of widespread criticism of Elon Musk’s leadership and changes to the platform.

Key Points:
* A major outage at X occurred on Friday, January 16, 2026, beginning around 10 AM Eastern Time.
* Users across the globe experienced issues accessing the site and app.
* The outage was intermittent, with the site appearing to come back online briefly before failing again.
* X engineer Christopher Stanley posted cryptic messages, including an image of an Elmo puppet surrounded by fire and a video about “legacy code/infra.”
* Elon Musk, CEO of X, did not address the outage on his social media feed.
* Tracking website Down Detector showed a spike in reports of problems at X.
* Service appears to have been largely restored by the afternoon.

Key Takeaways:

  • X continues to experience technical difficulties, raising concerns about the stability of the platform under its new ownership.
  • The lack of official communication from Elon Musk regarding the outage is notable, particularly given the platform’s reliance on real-time information.
  • The reference to “legacy code/infra” by an X engineer suggests that the underlying infrastructure of the platform may be a source of ongoing challenges.
  • The outage further fuels the narrative of instability and decline surrounding X since its acquisition by Elon Musk.
  • The reliance on Down Detector highlights the lack of transparent communication from X regarding service disruptions.

    Read More

Related News: