Facebook, Instagram back online after Thanksgiving outage

Social media giant blames 'an issue in one of our central software systems' for shutting down platform and all connected apps

Illustrative: A man passes a Facebook screen at the Gamescom gathering in Cologne, Germany, August 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook said it had restored service following an outage on Thursday that hindered access to the social platform and its other apps such as Instagram.

“Earlier today, people may have experienced trouble accessing Facebook’s family of apps. The issue has since been resolved, we are back to 100 percent for everyone and we’re sorry for any inconvenience,” a company spokesman said in a statement.

Facebook blamed “an issue in one of our central software systems” for snarling connectivity for several hours.

Many users, often wryly, took to Twitter to comment on the crash.

Downdetector, which monitors outages on the internet, said users of all Facebook platforms started having trouble at 8.45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, hitting the US on Thanksgiving morning, a peak time for social media platforms.

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