Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, faced considerable disruptions on Monday, leaving many users unable to access the site. According to reports collected by Downdetector, nearly 40,000 users reported issues around 10 a.m. ET, with the numbers dwindling to approximately 28,000 by 11:30 a.m. ET. By 2 p.m. ET, about 22,000 users continued to experience difficulties.
As the service began to restore for some users in the afternoon, Musk asserted that X had been subjected to a “massive cyberattack.” He refrained from providing any substantiating evidence, and CNBC has been unable to verify the occurrence of such an attack independently. Musk remarked, “We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources,” implying possible coordination by a significant entity or country.
X did not provide immediate commentary in response to requests from CNBC. Musk acquired the platform, previously known as Twitter, for a hefty $44 billion in 2022. Since then, he has drastically reduced the workforce by around 80%, trimming the total from 7,500 employees down to about 1,300, including just 550 full-time engineers as of January 2023.
The platform has experienced a series of major outages under Musk’s leadership. Users reported difficulties in December 2022 and again with the desktop app in July 2023.
Compounding the situation, the timing of Monday’s outage coincided with the onset of the NFL’s free agency tampering window at 12 p.m. ET, prompting fans to seek alternatives for news updates about player signings through other channels, including traditional television and Bluesky.
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