Cloudflare outage hits X, ChatGPT and several other websites globally
A technical issue with Cloudflare’s network infrastructure caused widespread service degradation, leading to login and loading failures on X, ChatGPT, and other major sites
Users across several major platforms, including X (formerly Twitter) and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, have reported widespread disruptions, with Cloudflare’s content delivery network identified as the source of the multi-platform outage.
Cloudflare’s official status page has acknowledged ongoing service degradation. Data from the outage-tracking website Downdetector shows the disruption began around 6:00 AM ET (4:30 pm IST), triggered by an issue with Cloudflare’s support portal provider that soon escalated into broader service problems. As a result, users accessing affected platforms are experiencing various issues, including trouble loading posts on X, using tools like Canva or ChatGPT, and accessing certain online games such as League of Legends.
Also read | Is ChatGpt down? Outage hits users worldwide, over 500 outage reports
The social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, is also facing a major global outage, disrupting essential functions such as logging in, loading new posts, and accessing both the app and the website on Tuesday (November 18). The disruption has sparked widespread online discussion, with terms like “Twitter down” and “X down” trending on Google as users try to understand the cause. Outage tracking website Downdetector showed that there were over 11,500 reports of X being down as of 5.15 pm.
The website showed that the problems were mostly regarding feed (47 per cent), website (30 per cent) and server connection issues (23 per cent). However, X is yet to issue an official statement regarding the outage, reported the Economic Times.
Cloudflare outage to blame
According to media reports, X’s outage is linked to the ongoing disruption at Cloudflare, a major web infrastructure company. However, it is still unclear whether the outages across different platforms are directly connected.
Also read: Social media platform Twitter aka X down globally, user timelines empty
Cloudflare provides critical online infrastructure, offering technologies that support modern web operations, protect websites from cyberattacks, and ensure stability during heavy traffic surges. A technical issue within the company’s system has caused parts of the internet to malfunction, contributing to the widespread service disruptions seen across multiple platforms.
X users getting error message
According to a report in the Independent, visitors to websites such as X, formerly known as Twitter, and film reviewing site Letterbox are seeing an error message indicating that Cloudflare problems meant that the page could not be shown.
“Cloudflare is aware of and investigating an issue which potentially impacts multiple customers,” stated the company. “Further detail will be provided as more information becomes available,” it added.
The outage-tracking site Downdetector, which logs service disruptions, was also impacted by the technical issues. When it did load, it displayed a sharp rise in reported problems. Those affected were shown a notice stating there was an “internal server error on Cloudflare’s network" and were told to “please try again in a few minutes.”