NEW YORK, Feb 2, 2026, 03:03 EST
- Downdetector recorded over 19,000 reports from the U.S.; the service was mostly back up in roughly 45 minutes.
- NetBlocks confirmed the disruption wasn’t caused by any nationwide internet filtering.
- Requests for comment from X went unanswered.
Elon Musk’s X, once known as Twitter, went offline briefly Sunday, triggering over 19,000 outage reports from U.S. users on Downdetector, the website tracking such disruptions. The volume of reports dropped off roughly 45 minutes later, with the issue mostly cleared up by 12:04 p.m. ET. X has yet to comment on the incident. (Reuters)
On a platform driven by real-time updates, even a brief outage can cause major disruption. Brands rely on X to respond to customers, while public agencies use it to issue alerts. When the feed goes down, conversations quickly shift to other places.
The outage hits while X struggles to retain users and ad revenue in an increasingly packed space. Competitors like Meta Platforms’ Threads continue rolling out new features, aiming to draw users into their own feeds. (Reuters)
Internet-monitoring group NetBlocks reported “international outages” affecting the service. It clarified in a post on Bluesky that the issue wasn’t linked to country-level internet disruptions or filtering. (Bluesky Social)
Users reported delays in timeline refreshes and issues with posts failing to load. According to tech site The Verge, some could only see posts from roughly an hour earlier. (The Verge)
According to The Times of India, some users experienced login issues and broken timelines during the outage, which rapidly became a trending topic online.
X hasn’t explained what caused Sunday’s glitch. Downdetector’s data comes from user reports, and short-lived recoveries might mask ongoing issues in some areas.
X has faced multiple outages since mid-January. On Jan. 22, Downdetector logged over 20,200 problem reports across the U.S., with the UK hitting a peak of more than 7,000 before the numbers dropped. (Reuters)
On Jan. 16, Downdetector recorded a surge of over 74,000 reports from U.S. users during the height of a worldwide outage. Reports also jumped sharply in the UK, India, and Canada. (Reuters)
Back in June 2025, Musk admitted that “major operational improvements need to be made” following what he described as uptime problems at X. (Reuters)
Sunday’s outage was short-lived, yet it struck during peak U.S. hours when the platform sees its highest traffic. If another drop happens, this time without any explanation, it won’t be so easy to write off as a fluke.
