#WhatsAppDown: WhatsApp suffers its first global service issues of 2020

For the first time this year, WhatsApp is reportedly down for a number of users worldwide according to reports on social media.

Service status aggregator DownDetector also suggests that a swathe of users in central Europe, Indonesia and Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and Brazil are unable to access the service.

Although #WhatsAppDown is trending on Twitter worldwide and also in South Africa, the chat service is still functional for us down in Cape Town.

Everytime Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook goes down:#whatsappdown pic.twitter.com/dR6OXvv9d7

— Snehil (@Snehil_96) January 19, 2020

People running to Twitter to see if WhatsApp is down 😂#whatsappdown pic.twitter.com/0w1WzBTcCb

— Rits 🇮🇳 (@AsNoOneCanWish) January 19, 2020

Me after I cant post any picture or send any stickers on whatsapp: *quickly go to twitter to see if this problem is trending or not*#whatsappdown pic.twitter.com/clX6my8UOv

— 🌟iWant To Trend (@PineandLords) January 19, 2020

Solve the error as soon as possible.
Until then we use Twitter 🤪🥳 #whatsappdown pic.twitter.com/tdAsjozjan

— Srinath Reddy (@SrinathReddy_05) January 19, 2020

The issue is unrelated to the undersea cable break experienced off the coast of Gabon, which has affected South Africa’s international internet access over the weekend.

Services like Twitter and a number of international gaming servers were inaccessible, however Twitter access has since been restored.

It’s not yet clear why WhatsApp is experiencing issues on Sunday, or when normal service will resume.

Feature image: the WhatsApp icon, by Andy Walker/Memeburn