Cloudflare outage sparks global internet chaos as major websites affected
Millions of users worldwide face service disruptions as the major Cloudflare outage leaves websites and online platforms offline for hours.
Thousands of internet users worldwide, including in Kenya, experienced disruptions on Tuesday as a major Cloudflare outage rendered websites like X and ChatGPT inaccessible.
Users reported seeing error messages citing an “internal server error on Cloudflare’s network,” which prevented them from loading content or using features on affected sites.
More To Read
- Top 10 most used languages for web content
- Taliban shuts down internet indefinitely in Afghanistan
- Kenya to benefit from EU’s Sh2.3 billion internet expansion project
- Millennials edge out Gen Z in internet use – CA study
- New Bitchat app by Jack Dorsey enables messaging without Wi-Fi or mobile data
- ICT Authority of Kenya calls for public feedback on draft fibre optic and public Wi-Fi standards
The outage began around 2:30 pm EAT (11:30 am UK) and affected a wide range of platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), ChatGPT, Bet365, League of Legends, Spotify, Amazon, OpenAI, Canva, and BrightHR.
The outage lasted until around 17:30 EAT.
Visitors encountered messages urging them to “please try again in a few minutes” as pages failed to load. X users reported errors such as, “Posts aren’t loading right now. Try again.”
Cloudflare, a major internet infrastructure provider that powers and secures many websites, acknowledged the problem and said it was investigating.
“Cloudflare is aware of and investigating an issue which potentially impacts multiple customers. We are working to understand the full impact and mitigate this problem. More updates to follow shortly,” the company said in a statement.
In a follow-up update, Cloudflare added: “We are seeing services recover, but customers may continue to observe higher-than-normal error rates as we continue remediation efforts.”
The outage also affected DownDetector, a website that tracks service disruptions, which recorded a dramatic spike in problem reports.
In Kenya, thousands of X users confirmed difficulties accessing the platform, flooding outage tracking sites with reports of interruptions.
Cloudflare provides essential technologies that help websites defend against cyberattacks, manage heavy traffic, and ensure online content remains available.
The incident comes nearly a month after Amazon Web Services experienced widespread outages, disrupting multiple online platforms for several hours.
Top Stories Today
