Quick Read
- X, formerly Twitter, experienced a global outage on February 16, 2026.
- Thousands of users reported inability to load timelines and feeds.
- DownDetector recorded over 42,000 reports by 8:38 a.m. ET, peaking after 1:40 p.m. GMT.
- 53% of reported issues were with the app, 21% with the feed, and 17% with the website.
- X has not yet confirmed the cause or restoration time for the disruption.
WASHINGTON (Azat TV) – X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, experienced a significant global outage on Monday, February 16, 2026, leaving thousands of users unable to access their timelines and feeds. The widespread disruption underscores recurring concerns about the platform’s operational stability.
Reports of issues began surfacing around 8:08 a.m. Eastern Time (1:08 p.m. GMT), rapidly escalating as users encountered difficulties loading new posts on their home feeds and user profiles. DownDetector, a platform that tracks internet outages based on user submissions, recorded a surge in complaints. By 8:38 a.m. ET, approximately 42,000 reports had been filed, with a peak of over 11,000 reports on DownDetector just after 1:40 p.m. GMT, according to indy100.
Global Impact and User Reports
Users across the world reported similar symptoms: the familiar ‘X’ logo would appear on screen but would not transition to display the usual timeline. For those using the iOS application, new tweets consistently failed to load. DownDetector’s data indicated that 53% of reported issues were with the app itself, while 21% concerned the feed, and 17% related to the website, as reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The outage created a ripple effect, prompting users to turn to other platforms and search engines with queries like ‘is Twitter down’ or ‘X outage’ to confirm the widespread nature of the problem. The inability to load content effectively brought user engagement on the platform to a standstill for many.
Technical Details of the Disruption
As of the reporting, the cause of the disruption remains unconfirmed by X. The company has not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident, nor has it provided an estimated timeline for when full service is expected to be restored. This lack of immediate communication has left users and observers speculating about the technical root of the problem.
Previous major outages have sometimes been attributed to internal system failures or external infrastructure issues. For instance, a significant outage in March 2025 saw over 1.6 million reports on DownDetector, while CloudFlare issues in November 2025 affected multiple sites, including X, Spotify, and ChatGPT, highlighting the interconnectedness of internet services.
X’s History of Service Instability
The current disruption is not an isolated incident but rather the latest in a series of service instabilities that have periodically affected X since its rebranding. These recurring issues contribute to a narrative of fluctuating reliability, which can impact user trust and engagement on a platform central to public discourse and real-time information sharing.
The repeated nature of these widespread outages on X underscores the challenges social media platforms face in maintaining consistent global service, particularly given their critical role in information dissemination and public communication.